He has speed with accuracy. Known for taking decisions virtually at a digital pace, Som Mittal's secret lies in taking business to an extra height. An alumnus of IIT Kanpur and IIM Ahmedabad, chairman and CEO of Digital GlobalSoft, Mittal didn't strike it rich overnight. Mittal's career began in 1975 and took him in various capacities to Larsen & Toubro, Escorts and then to SRF Nippondenso, where he was responsible for path-breaking Joint Ventures. A five-year stint with Wipro Infotech as vice-president, Peripherals Division, featured record revenues and its establishment as the No.1 player in the industry.

He then moved on to Hewlett-Packard Equipment (India) Ltd as managing director, entrusted with the unenviable task of turning around a loss making organisation. Som's measures spawned a 90% growth in just 18 months! Following its worldwide merger with Compaq Computer Corporation in 1998, Mittal assumed the position of managing director, Compaq India, where he subsequently hived off its hardware business to focus on software services. The newly created Hewlett-Packard GlobalSoft, took off with Som as its first President and CEO. In just three years, he succeeded in building Hewlett-Packard into a more than 2,500-strong fast growing, profitable business. His stint at Digital GlobalSoft started with the word "trust". "We started very small.

We were about 280 people or so and as a company we've gone through many transformations," he reminisced later. "The one word that came to mind was 'Trust'. They had to earn the trust of the employees, society, customers and shareholders." Som's work is not confined to his company alone. He has an abiding interest issues general. One example is the Bangalore International Airport. "I used to go there twice a week at midnight and check on what happens to passengers who arrive and depart there. We formed a group of the airport manager, the airlines, oil companies, police, customs, bank-all the people who make the airport tick," he remembers.

This was his way streamlining the functioning at a busy point in India's software capital. Married to Vidhu, a culinary freak, he has two children - a son and a daughter. Mittal has also served as the chairman of India's apex software body, Nasscom. In addition to this, he has held many important positions in state and national apex bodies-national council member & former chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), executive council member & past president (South), Manufacturers Association of Information Technology (MAIT), member of the Chief Minister's Task Force (Government of Karnataka), governing council member of the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITB), and founder member of the Board of Education Standards. In between his schedules, Mittal finds time to relax by playing bridge, going for long walks and the last but not the least-gardening.