Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal endorses Narayan Murthy’s 70-hour work week

Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO of Ola, recently voiced his strong support for Narayan Murthy’s proposal advocating a 70-hour workweek for young professionals. In an exclusive podcast interview with ANI, Aggarwal underscored his alignment with Murthy's perspective, emphasizing the transformative impact of Murthy's return to Infosys in 2013.

"I'm fully in sync with his direction to the youth," Aggarwal affirmed. "He had to come back because of the state his company was in, and his contribution post-return was significant. Even Nandan [Nilekani] returned in a non-executive role and continued to make valuable contributions."

Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and non-executive Chairman of Infosys, is widely credited for spearheading the Aadhaar initiative in India.


Aggarwal’s Inspiration and Tech Preferences
Aggarwal also shared insights into his admiration for Steve Jobs, describing him as a foundational influence. "I was and am a Steve Jobs fan," he acknowledged. "I use all Apple products and genuinely believe that they are very well engineered and designed products."

Concerns Over Techno-Colonialism
During the wide-ranging interview, Aggarwal delved into broader issues impacting India's tech ecosystem. He highlighted the concept of "techno-colonialism," expressing apprehensions about India’s data being exported to global data centers for processing and repurposing, only to be sold back to India in foreign currency.

"India's data is exported, processed abroad, and then sold back to us," Aggarwal pointed out, coining the term "techno-colonialism" to encapsulate this complex phenomenon.