The maxim ‘leaving it better than finding it’ rings true for Kiranmai Dutt Pendyala. The urge to learn, experiment and change has lead her to successes, albeit on a road that’s not taken often. In her current global role as the Corporate Vice President, Operations, Human Resources at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Kiranmai can claim credit for many a strategic transformation in talent acquisition, management, development that impacts operations in 40 countries. Kiranmai is the first woman and the first non-American to hold this post. She has shifted gears from teaching English and Communication Skills to HR and along the way, amassed awards and accolades aplenty.
Armed with two doctoral degrees, she has authored 12 books, which are prescribed for under-graduate courses across the country. Early on in life, much before a career plan was made, Kiranmai enrolled herself in various centres in the city and learnt French, Japanese, German, Russian, Swahili, apart from an exemplary proficiency over English, Telugu and Hindi.
Here’s tracing a few aspects of Kiranmai’s journey in a freewheeling interview:
Was your career choice made during school days?
While in school, given which state we grew up in, if you are a girl you become a medical doctor and if you are a boy you become an engineer. That’s what my parents hoped or desired perhaps. I had a mind of my own. I was some sort of a rebel. Hospitals were not my favourite places. But I enjoyed studying sciences and continued with sciences. I did not have an alternative to not becoming a doctor. During one of my final year exams came a turning point that pulled me away from sciences and turned me towards arts and humanities. I had a flair for languages. I did masters in languages. I told my mom, ‘you want me to be a doctor, I will fulfil your wish’. That’s how I went on to do my Doctoral thesis on ‘Computer Assisted Language Learning’, which apparently was the first in the country. I took up teaching, which seemed to be the natural trajectory to your career.
You thrived on doing things that are unusual. Did teaching give you that scope?
I’m always an experimenter at heart, never afraid of taking road not taken. I was teaching and heading humanities in an engineering college. I did needs-analysis and found whatever English textbooks they had were not really relevant. So I created early on, employment skill-based curriculum and made a proposal to the university senate. That got accepted and for the first time practicals were introduced through English language labs for engineering students. I’ve also developed technical writing and presentation skills as an elective in the third year. I felt if engineering students take it up before their masters, it’ll be useful for them. So I prepared at least four syllabi for the course.
How did the transition to HR happen?
AP higher education asked me to design employability skill courses. During that time, the HR industry entered Hyderabad and some companies wanted me to join them, but I was wedded to the thought of teaching by then, so they asked me to come on board as a consultant which I did. I started connecting with business ROI. Training is always an investment to a company, but how do you leverage it into revenue? How do you turn that skill and competency into business? I studied this prospect and got excited about the whole process. The experimenter in me came in. I started designing the modules and shrunk them — each time challenging myself to not just lower the cost and reducing the cycle, but keeping up the quality output. Designing assessment and conducting test were also part of the course. That’s how my journey began.
Being appointed as VP HR at ADB was totally a different ball game
When I was made the VP, I felt I need to equip myself more with the expertise. I enrolled myself in XLRI Jamshedpur, where I had to stay on campus every six months. It used to be gruelling, I’d attend classes all day, prepare for the next day’s assignments in the night while also getting on to conference calls from workplace. It was stressful but I enjoyed it. I had a very clear goal that I have to do a good job. I wouldn’t be happy with status quo, I’d always look for opportunities to learn and always look at changing things for better. I believed in leaving it better than you found it. That helped me to move on.
Do you feel the inexorable reference to your gender?
I did go through incidents or situations, where I was told had I been a man things would have been different and easier. A woman has to make adjustments, because she continues to be the primary caregiver. But even if I leave that aside, within the context of an organisation, if you are a woman, you are in minority. Specially if you are up the ladder. In my case it so happened that I was the only woman sitting across the table and everybody else is a male. There are times you’d find that maybe they are nice to you because you are a woman. You don’t want any special favours, you want respect for your opinion and your perspective. How do you make one look at your perspective as not a woman’s perspective or a woman-leader’s perspective but a leader’s perspective? That was the most challenging thing of all. By default, they’d be either too sympathetic and patronising or brush you aside. Today things have changed, people are extremely careful and sensitised.
From being known as ‘Personnel department’, the HR has evolved into bigger force in the industry. How have you adapted?
Yes, earlier it was all about paper-pushing, documenting and personnel management. All that shifted in the last decade. I’m very fortunate I was there and was able to ride that wave. I had a blend of science and humanities as a background. Whenever there is a challenge or an issue regarding the company, I would always bring in data and find a pattern. I’d talk about strategic planning, talent laws, talent investment, talent development and other HR initiatives. I was dealing with engineers and they found it refreshing that a person from HR could talk like that.
Beyond gender issue, were there many frustrating moments?
Apart from gender, your age and race can be an issue too. I faced it at various stages of my career. From a legal point of view you cannot nab them or pin them. When I faced roadblocks I never took it as personal battle, otherwise I would have gone astray and lost focus. I stuck with the issue and fought. I started looking for allies network with like-minded people within the company, hoping, if I string in a thought, they would in turn go and influence other team mates. Perseverance and resilience is important. Because it’s easy to give up. Specially for women, we are told ‘you don’t have to work’. There are so many traps for you to give up.
Millennials entering workforce made a difference?
The influx of millennials changed everything. At home you are seeing one or two, up here they are coming in droves. And suddenly they become the majority and as people’s manager, you are the minority. You haven’t shifted or changed the way of your thinking because your mental model is when you entered workforce how your manager treated you. Now you try to replicate by default and behave in similar fashion. But that’s not going to cut through the ice. Millennials are going to be different, they demand more flexibility and they want their space. You tell them what is expected and they’ll do at their time and pace.
‘Women can’t have it all,’ is the general perception. How would you view this?
Nobody can have it all. It’s the same challenge for men. When you are gaining in one arena you are losing out in other.
Working across 40 countries, are you on a 24x7 job?
It seems so initially. In close to eight years that I’ve been with AMD, every single year I had a new role. I pick up something, I stabilise and when it’s on cruise mode, I’m given a next responsibility. There was never a moment where I thought this is it, I can get into maintenance mode. Amid all these, I had to find a way to strike life-work balance. I started investing in teams and delegation of work. When you do that, it’s just not you who’s growing, your team is growing too.
Why was it so important for you to have Hyderabad as home despite being in a global role?
All through my career my family has been very supportive, never ever did they question my decisions. They only tried to see how they can help and support. Given that, I felt the only way I can give it back is to stay closer to them. I felt we are a technology-based global company, so how does it matter where I work from. It raised a big challenge though, because I was the only leader in that group who’s outside north America and have been operating like that for so many years. There are strategic review meetings every week for three hours and I’m the only one sitting in my office hooked to the video, around 11 and 12 in the night, while others start fresh in the morning. But that’s my choice so lived with it..that’s how I made peace with it.
You are travelling as much too
Yes, the only deterrent is, much to my amusement, staying in Hyderabad, flight connectivity is not so great to certain countries. Second thing is I’m at the passport office almost every year to get a new booklet. I feel government of India should support and introduce those jumbo booklets, with may be, 100 pages. I exhaust the 25-page one so fast. Another thing is I wonder about our bilateral trades. Why is it so difficult to secure visa to certain countries. You are bogged down with issues like these.
