Azim Hashim Premji is an Indian business tycoon, investor and philanthropist, who is the chairman of Wipro Limited, informally known as the Czar of the Indian IT Industry. He was born on 24 July 1945 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Azim Premji obtained a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. This is almost equal in importance to a graduate degree in engineering in India. Premji's career started in 1966 when he had to cut short his education at Stanford University upon receiving the news of his father's demise and come back home to take charge of his father's company, which had been started in 1945. At that time, Wipro was working out of a small town in Maharashtra named Amalner and dealt in Sunflower Vanaspati, a cooking oil brand, and 787, a laundry soap that was the byproduct of cooking oil production.

Premji managed to diversify the company's offerings by starting the production of bakery fat, various kinds of lights and related products, toiletries made from locally available ingredients, hydraulic cylinders, hair care soaps and toiletries for babies. Thanks to his visionary capabilities, he was able to understand the potential of information technology in the 1980s. At that time, there was a significant gap in the IT market in India when IBM was shown the door. So, Premji changed the name of his company to Wipro and started to make microcomputers so as to gain entry into the sector for high technology products. In this project, he collaborated with Sentinel Computer Corporation, an American organization. Very soon, he made a complete shift from fast moving consumer goods to the technology industry. In 2005, the Government of India honoured him with the title of Padma Bhushan for his outstanding work in trade and commerce. In 2011, he has been awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award by the Government of India. In 2013, he received the ET Lifetime Achievement Award.