Kris Gopalakrishnan Issues R&D-focused Clarion Call For India Inc And Karnataka

Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman at Axilor Ventures and Co-founder at Infosys, delivered a call to the Indian industry, urging businesses to ramp up their research and development (R&D) efforts while stressing the importance of external collaboration. 

Addressing the gathering at CII Innoverge, Gopalakrishnan outlined three strategic recommendations aimed at driving innovation, product development and growth within companies.

In his first recommendation, he called on businesses to significantly increase their R&D spending to help foster a more product-oriented economy. “We have to become a product nation and we have to create products and technologies,” Gopalakrishnan said, adding that continuous investment in R&D will help companies achieve this transformation. 

He asked the industry to adopt a forward-thinking approach and stressed the need for ambitious targets.

Gopalakrishnan’s second point centered around innovation metrics. He encouraged organisations to measure the contribution of products introduced within the last three years to their current revenues, describing it as a critical factor for growth. According to him, this approach would ensure that businesses keep their product portfolios fresh and aligned with market demands.

The Infosys co-founder also suggested that companies set bold targets in this area to drive innovation and performance. “This will ensure that you are renewing your product portfolio, you are setting targets for new revenues to come, and it will ensure growth,” he explained.

In his third recommendation, Gopalakrishnan compelled companies to look beyond internal innovation and focus on external collaborations. “Not everything should be just from inside the organization because the outside world is far bigger and more innovative,” he said. 

He stressed the importance of leveraging R&D efforts from external sources to keep pace with the fast-changing global innovation landscape.

Asks From Karnataka Government

Addressing the Karnataka government, Gopalakrishnan applauded its efforts in setting up Centres of Excellence across the state, including in regions outside Bengaluru, as part of its ‘Beyond Bangalore’ initiative. 

However, he proposed an enhancement to this initiative by advocating for closer collaboration between academia and industry. He suggested that these centres be located near academic and research institutions and that industry R&D teams should be co-located within these hubs. “I would like to see better collaboration between academia and industry, and these Centres of Excellence actually act as a conduit for that collaboration,” he said.

To illustrate his point, Gopalakrishnan referenced TCS, which has moved its research teams into six Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), facilitating deeper collaboration between the corporate and academic worlds. He asked more companies to follow suit, stressing that this model could set Karnataka apart as a leader in innovation-driven partnerships. 

“As usual, Karnataka will set the trend in the country if we actually look at these Centres of Excellence and research hubs, where industry, academia, and startups come together,” he concluded.