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What is the story about?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to appoint Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani to head a high-powered task force on examination reforms is the latest in a series of high-profile public assignments that have made the technology veteran one of India's most trusted architects of digital governance.
The panel, constituted to recommend technology-led reforms for the National Testing Agency (NTA) and strengthen the integrity of competitive examinations, adds another project to Nilekani’s career that has repeatedly intersected with nation-building initiatives.
Nilekani co-founded Infosys in 1981 with NR Narayana Murthy and five other engineers, helping build one of India's largest IT services companies. As Chief Executive Officer between 2002 and 2007, he oversaw a period of rapid expansion during which Infosys emerged as a global outsourcing leader and became a symbol of India's growing software capabilities.
His transition from the corporate world to public service came in 2009, when the UPA government appointed him as the founding Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Entrusted with creating a unique digital identity for every resident, Nilekani led the development of Aadhaar, which has since become the world's largest biometric identification programme. Today, Aadhaar is at the core of a wide range of public services, from welfare transfers and banking to digital authentication, and forms a cornerstone of India's digital public infrastructure.
Nilekani has also played a significant role in shaping India's digital payments ecosystem. He has been closely associated with the evolution of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which has transformed retail payments and established India as a global leader in real-time digital transactions.
Beyond payments, his expertise has been tapped across multiple government initiatives. He chaired the Reserve Bank of India's Committee on Deepening of Digital Payments in 2019, whose recommendations laid the groundwork for expanding digital payment acceptance across the country. He has also been associated with the Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects (TAGUP), which proposed technology-driven reforms for tax administration and governance, influencing the digital architecture that later supported the Goods and Services Tax (GST) ecosystem.
In recent years, Nilekani has continued to advise the government on emerging technology. He has been associated with the India Energy Stack initiative , which aims to build digital public infrastructure for the power sector, and has advocated the use of open digital networks and interoperable platforms across sectors.
ALSO READ | Nandan Nilekani-backed Fundamentum launches ₹2,200 crore fund to bet big on AI startups
Outside public policy, Nilekani serves as the non-executive chairman of Infosys and is an active investor through venture capital firm Fundamentum Partnership. Through the non-profit EkStep Foundation, he has also supported initiatives focused on foundational literacy, learning and digital education.
His 2008 book Imagining India argued that technology, institutions and demographic change could reshape the country's future. Over the past decade and a half, many of the ideas he championed have found expression in large-scale digital public infrastructure projects.
Watch in pics | From Nandan Nilekani to S Somanath: Meet the members of PM Modi's NTA examination reform panel
The panel, constituted to recommend technology-led reforms for the National Testing Agency (NTA) and strengthen the integrity of competitive examinations, adds another project to Nilekani’s career that has repeatedly intersected with nation-building initiatives.
Nilekani co-founded Infosys in 1981 with NR Narayana Murthy and five other engineers, helping build one of India's largest IT services companies. As Chief Executive Officer between 2002 and 2007, he oversaw a period of rapid expansion during which Infosys emerged as a global outsourcing leader and became a symbol of India's growing software capabilities.
His transition from the corporate world to public service came in 2009, when the UPA government appointed him as the founding Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Entrusted with creating a unique digital identity for every resident, Nilekani led the development of Aadhaar, which has since become the world's largest biometric identification programme. Today, Aadhaar is at the core of a wide range of public services, from welfare transfers and banking to digital authentication, and forms a cornerstone of India's digital public infrastructure.
Nilekani has also played a significant role in shaping India's digital payments ecosystem. He has been closely associated with the evolution of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which has transformed retail payments and established India as a global leader in real-time digital transactions.
Beyond payments, his expertise has been tapped across multiple government initiatives. He chaired the Reserve Bank of India's Committee on Deepening of Digital Payments in 2019, whose recommendations laid the groundwork for expanding digital payment acceptance across the country. He has also been associated with the Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects (TAGUP), which proposed technology-driven reforms for tax administration and governance, influencing the digital architecture that later supported the Goods and Services Tax (GST) ecosystem.
In recent years, Nilekani has continued to advise the government on emerging technology. He has been associated with the India Energy Stack initiative , which aims to build digital public infrastructure for the power sector, and has advocated the use of open digital networks and interoperable platforms across sectors.
ALSO READ | Nandan Nilekani-backed Fundamentum launches ₹2,200 crore fund to bet big on AI startups
Outside public policy, Nilekani serves as the non-executive chairman of Infosys and is an active investor through venture capital firm Fundamentum Partnership. Through the non-profit EkStep Foundation, he has also supported initiatives focused on foundational literacy, learning and digital education.
His 2008 book Imagining India argued that technology, institutions and demographic change could reshape the country's future. Over the past decade and a half, many of the ideas he championed have found expression in large-scale digital public infrastructure projects.
Watch in pics | From Nandan Nilekani to S Somanath: Meet the members of PM Modi's NTA examination reform panel
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