Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal has backed Infosys founder Narayana Murthy on the 70-hour workweek debate, saying that he is “fully in sync” with his advice.
In a podcast of news agency ANI, Aggarwal shared that he works 20 hours a day “all seven days” of the week.
Narayana Murthy’s 70-hour work week had triggered debates and met with brickbats and flowers, wherein several business owners agreed with the need for increased productivity, and some debated with adequate compensation.
“I should do more, and I’m fully in sync with his (Murthy’s) direction to the youth,” Aggarwal said backing Murthy.
Referring to the Infosys founder’s in and out from the firm several time, the Ola CEO said, “I think he had to come back because of the state his company was in, right? And he was able to contribute after he came back and was able to turn it around.”
“Since then, actually, even Nandan has come back in a non-executive chairman role and contributed further. And even when Nandan came back to Infosys. Infosys also took off after that, right? So, I think it’s like the same parental thing. You are always connected to your company,” he added.
Narayana Murthy had founded Infosys in 1981 with the help of six fellow software professionals, including Nandan M Nilekani.
Nilekani is the co-founder and non-executive Chairman of the Board of Infosys, and is credited for the launch of Aadhaar card.
Aggarwal has previously voiced his support for extending average working hours, aligning with Murthy’s perspective on the matter, as evident in his past social media posts.
The Ola CEO also shared that he “was and is” a Steve Jobs fan, adding that the Apple founder is “one of the core inspirations that I grew up with”.
“I use all Apple products and genuinely believe that they are very well engineered and designed products,” he added.
