Ajai Chowdhry is a distinguished figure in India's technology landscape, best known as one of the six cofounders of HCL in 1976. He was instrumental in HCL's early expansion, including into Singapore in 1980, helping to build a business that now spans ASEAN, China, and Hong Kong and is valued at US $50 billion. Later, in 1995, he took the helm at HCL Infosystems, transforming it into a leader in hardware, systems integration, and mobile telephony (Nokia), growing the organization to Rs.