Early Life
Romesh T. Wadhwani was born in Karachi, British India (now Pakistan), shortly before the partition of India in August 1947. His family moved to India soon after. At the age of two, Wadhwani contracted polio, which presented physical challenges throughout his life. Despite these obstacles, he excelled academically. He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay).
Rise to Success
Wadhwani moved to the United States in 1969 to pursue advanced studies. He earned a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. In the 1970s, Wadhwani founded his first company, Compuguard Corporation. He then founded Aspect Development, Inc., a software firm that was later acquired by i2 Technologies for $9.3 billion in stock in 2000. In 2002, Wadhwani founded Symphony Technology Group (STG), a private equity firm. In 2017, he founded SymphonyAI, an enterprise AI platform.
Key Business Strategies
Wadhwani's success stems from identifying opportunities in the technology sector and leveraging his expertise to build and scale companies. His focus on enterprise software, data, and AI has been central to his investments. As the founder of STG, he focused on investing in and building software and technology-enabled services companies.
Philanthropy
Wadhwani established the Wadhwani Foundation in 2001 to accelerate job creation and economic development in emerging economies, particularly in India. The foundation has launched initiatives focused on entrepreneurship, skilling, and policy advocacy. He has committed over $1 billion to the foundation and pledged 80% of his remaining assets.
