Infosys founder Narayana Murthy reveals value he practised throughout his career, has an advice for senior corporate leaders

Narayana Murthy, Infosys founder, is known for not mincing his words. The tech veteran, who sparked nationwide debate last year by urging Indian youths to work 70-hour weeks, recently said his personal belief is that there is no point in living in ultra-luxury amid penury and suffering.

He was talking about what corporate leaders owe their employees. The welfare of the lowest-level workers should come first—always, the 78-year-old Indian billionaire businessman said. He commented on a range of subjects in an interaction with ET’s Puran Choudhary and KR Balasubramanyam ahead of the Infosys Science Foundation’s announcement of winners of Infosys Prize.

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Narayana Murthy on corporate compensation

"My personal belief is that there is no point in living in ultra-luxury amid penury and suffering. Therefore, as a compassionate capitalist, we must look after the lowest-level employees first before we attend to the senior people," he told The Economic Times.

Emphasizing his philosophy of “compassionate capitalism", Narayana Murthy said he believes that senior leaders should only consider their own compensation once the company’s lowest-paid employees are taken care of. It’s a value he practiced throughout his career and insists remains essential for any responsible business leader.

"See, there is a saying in Indian culture: the man and the woman of the house always eat last. They don't eat first. Similarly, the leader of a corporation must consider his or her compensation only after making sure that the lowest-level employee has received his or her share so that they can send their children to reasonable schools and take care of the health of their parents. That’s the way I did it throughout my corporate life," Narayana Murthy explained.

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His comments drew significant attention as they come at a time when corporate growth often focuses on high-end perks for executives and leave lower-tier employees behind. Murthy's words resonate not just as corporate advice but as a reminder of India’s cultural roots in caring for others.

Narayana Murthy on AI

Asked about Artificial Intelligence (AI) taking over jobs of humans in Indian tech companies, Narayana Murthy said, "AI will definitely help us improve productivity. Certain commonly used pieces of code in large application projects can be developed using large language models, like ChatGPT, or similar tools. Those pieces of code can then be reused thousands of times by thousands of people, improving productivity significantly. There’s no doubt about that. AI will also help us innovate more effectively because it can leverage the entire internet as its arena and generate the best algorithms, etcetera, giving us exposure to a higher level of information."

"It’s incredibly useful, without a doubt. However, in my view, activities like requirement definition, functional design, database design, performance engineering, user documentation, installation, and so on—especially for large applications, not smaller software tools—will still require human effort. AI will support us in becoming more productive, and the quality of work will improve because critical pieces of reusable code can be generated by AI. So, overall, the quality will be better," he added.

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Reflecting on the trends shaping India's workforce, Murthy warns against the “excesses” of an unchecked tech economy. He points to the need for job creation beyond high-tech roles and argues that India must provide employment for rural and lower-educated populations to drive sustainable growth. He urges India to study China’s model, particularly its success in creating manufacturing jobs that offer long-term stability for workers. “Unless we create low-tech jobs, overcrowding in urban areas will continue to grow,” he notes.