The birth of the BPO industry and many other stories

Raman Roy - the Father of the BPO Industry in India and Life Achievement Award Winner for Dataquest 2023 had a very interesting chat with Editor Sunil Rajguru where he unravelled the story of BPO industry's rise both as a back-office and a third-party specialist-and, later, its ascension to the IT industry's fairy-ring in India. He also looks ahead and tells why, or why not, India can be the future superpower - specially with regulatory bottlenecks. Excerpts:

- DQ Bureau

Tell us how your story began.

I am an accountant by profession. I spend a lot of time educating myself all the time-I have about 33 letters accompanying my name as degrees. When I began, jobs were not easy to come by. It only happened if your Dad knew somebody. I decided to educate myself. If you had met me in college, you would have seen a guy with torn jeans - and not because they were fashionable. Ultimately, I ended up working for American Express. I was a big-time achievement to get in an MNC. I still remember one evening in the basement of the Hindustan Times building-where our office was. I was walking to the parking area with my boss-he to his car and I to my motorcycle. He said: We are looking to launch the American Express card in India. I said: I am only an accountant. My boss said: We think you are the right guy. It is a big job. Think about it. He got into his car and left. I did not want to stop being an accountant. But I thought and realized-it was a huge opportunity. I took over the operations for American Express.

What happens next?