Arun Jain


Arun Jain is a Chennai-based Indian industrialist, investor and philanthropist. He is the chairman and managing director of Intellect Design Arena Limited, an IT software products company in the banking, financial services and insurance space which is listed in the National Stock Exchange as Intellect. He was also the founder, Chairman and CEO of Polaris Consulting and Services Ltd., an IT services company. On 4 March 2016, Virtusa Corporation acquired a majority stake in Polaris Consulting & Services Limited.
Arun has also been appointed the Chief Mentor of the Centre of Excellence for FinTech set up by Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Govt. of India, Member of National Software Product Mission, strategic forum for implementation of National Policy on Software Products 2019 constituted by MeitY. He is a Governing Council Member of STPI and also a Member in the Advisory Council of TechNest, an incubation facility provided by STPI-Chennai.  He has held, and continues to hold, positions in CII, MMA, National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology and the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce.

Career

After his graduation, Arun interned with Wang Laboratories in the United States following which he was offered permanent employment. However, he returned to India to set up what would become a global IT company.
He began his entrepreneurial journey at an early age when, as a child, he set up a street-food stall in Delhi that was profitable and, later, as a college student when he helped raise funds for a charitable cause by organising a film show. After graduating, Arun, along with friends Vishnu Dusad and Yogesh Andlay started International Information Systems in 1983 as a partnership firm with all three sharing key responsibilities: Vishnu Dusad took charge of marketing, Arun Jain became the chief operating officer and Yogesh Andlay, the Chief Technologist. In 1986, IIS was renamed as Nucleus Software Workshop Pvt. Ltd. At a professional level, his first major enterprise was the establishment of Nucleus Software Workshop in 1986.
In 1993, he founded Polaris Software Lab with an initial capital of $250, which recorded a CAGR of over 100% during the seven-year period 1993–2000. Intellect Design Arena Ltd. is his fourth venture in pursuit of his vision to make India the IP capital towards the next growth wave for the IT Industry with a strong focus on products.
An evangelist of Design thinking, Arun's brainchild – FinTech 8012, the world's first design center, in Chennai – dedicated to Financial Technology came into being. An avid practitioner, he also evangelises Design Thinking through public workshops, branded as UnMukt – a unique workshop where participants explore and immerse themselves in Design Thinking. UnMukt not only simplifies the learning process but also dispels the barriers to learning.

The Design Thinking Journey

During a press interaction in 2007, a journalist asked Arun Jain a question that sent him on a trail to discover the answer. The question was: “What do you ascribe your success to... what is your unique trait that drives growth and performance at Polaris?” At that time, he was reading a book that drew his attention to the fact that his company was naturally practising Design Thinking.
In 2011, an IDEO TED Talk on Design made a deep impact on Arun. On reviewing his learning, he was convinced that his company was instinctively practising the science of simplification, which was close to Design Thinking. As soon as the connection between Design Thinking and his management training workshop was made, there was a quantum leap in the way the company leveraged Design Thinking.

Design Thinking for Everyone

Arun Jain is a strong believer that Design Thinking is a life skill for the masses and is not limited to any field. That is why he not only created the World's First Design Center for Financial Institutions but also went on to establish the School of Design Thinking to this cause. He has led the curation of the curriculum for all the courses, workshops and programs for almost every section of society offered by the institutions he has built. Programs/Workshops conducted here include:
UnMukt is a flagship workshop where participants explore and immerse themselves in the art and science of Design Thinking. It has evolved into a platform for design seekers to congregate, learn mutually and gain exposure to a Design Mind which is indispensable for Design Thinking.

World's First Design Center

To reinforce the value of Design Thniking, a 30,000 sq. ft. FinTech 8012, the World's First Design Center in Chennai, was inaugurated in 2013. Dedicated to Financial Technology, it is a testimony to Arun's – and the company's – commitment to Design Thinking. A second such center was created in Mumbai in 2015.
The FinTech 8012 Design Center plays a vital role in bringing together the three pillars of financial organisations – Business, Technology and Operations – which are rarely aligned in their goals and help them focus on a common goal – the end-user. It enables the amalgamation of the three units’ goals to achieve good design through co-creation and collaboration.

School of Design Thinking

Incorporated in 2016 with a mission to create a Design Thinking movement in the country, School of Design Thinking is unique in its approach towards the very concept.  With equal importance given to the ability of Design Thinking in solving complex problems, SoDT also focuses on ‘Preparing the Design Mind’ of people. Along with working on the critical elements of the human mind, the School of Design Thinking has also crafted a 5-step Design Thinking Process facilitated by various design tools to solve complex problems.

Personal life

Arun was born in a middle-class family of nine siblings. His father was an Accounts officer in the Govt. of India's Postal & Telegraph department. He completed his bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering.

Philanthropy

Arun has had an early interest in social engineering: starting from fund-raising at a cinema to creating and supporting sustainable nation-wide projects. Among the initiatives he has created and led, in recent times, are:

Ullas Trust: Encouraging Academic Excellence

Ullas Trust  was started in 1997 by Arun Jain, with an aim to integrate associates of Polaris, and later Intellect, with the larger community and enable them to enjoy the satisfaction of working with young minds in the country. The Trust is a joint initiative of the employees and the organisation. Its primary motive is to shape the thinking of young, adolescent minds   with specific focus on the economically-challenged sections of society towards chasing their dreams and aspirations. Every year, Ullas selects over 1200 students through an entrance examination and these selected students, known as ‘Young Achievers’, are invited to a workshop called ‘CAN DO’ that publicly recognises their achievement/enrolment into Ullas, facilitates interactions with inspiring role models from public life, and plants the seed to 'Dream Big with Conviction!'

Mission Samriddhi: A Social Impact Enterprise

He is also the Founder of ‘Mission Samriddhi’, a social impact enterprise dedicated to holistic human development in India, through the design and development of projects that are sustainable and capable of scale to positively impact the larger population. Projects are currently supported in seven clusters including: Leadership Capacity Building, Farm-to-Fabric, Farm-to-Table, Scientific Agricultural Training, Education,  Community Health and Grassroots Relief. The objectives of Mission Samriddhi are: Celebrate, Connect, Catalyse.

PoleStar Foundation: Celebrating Excellence in Journalism and Social Impact

The PoleStar Foundation, instituted in 1998, recognises, honours and celebrates the outstanding contribution made by Indian media professionals and social impact organisations through the eponymously-named PoleStar Awards. Awardees are selected by an independent and distinguished panel of jury members. For many years now, this annual award pays tribute to journalists and social impact enablers for their contribution and commitment to the nation and its people, and also for tirelessly acting as a catalyst in disseminating quality information and support to the world.

Awards and recognition