U n' I with Rashmi Shetty- Dr. Sudhakar Varanasi

U n' I with Rashmi Shetty

23-11-2023 • 59 mins

There are some people you meet once who leave a deep impact on you. The man who conceived the idea of a common number all over India for emergency Ambulance service -108 is one such. I heard him speak a decade ago & have been inspired by his story. Ever since I started this podcast, it has been a dream to have Dr. Sudhakar Varanasi as my guest. Today is therefore a special episode.

Dr. Sudhakar had his education at IIT, Kharagpur (1969-74) and obtained a Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. After 17 years at IISc, he moved to the corporate world and joined the IT wave in India in 1991.

He was a founding director of Tiger Software and then moved to Satyam Computer Services as a part of senior management. One of his major achievements in the social sector is the designing of the 108 emergency medical services. He started EMRI (Emergency Management Research Institute) in 2005 which pioneered large-scale deployment of emergency services for the first time in India under a public-private-partnership model.

He then moved to the CEO position at CoOptions Technologies to set up a state-wide ICT platform across Andhra Pradesh to reach 3 million farmers in villages to bring about financial inclusion. He was also chief mentor at Emergent Institute and CEO at Namma Bengaluru Foundation, Bangalore.

He currently mentors many individuals and organizations and challenges them to take on large social causes using innovation, technology, and the spirit of entrepreneurship. His fields of interest are: education, healthcare and financial inclusion.

Listen in as Dr. Sudhakar Varanasi shares amazing nuggets of life with a tinge of his trademark humor. A conversation where we cover his journey, the shifts, contentment & joy.