Born and brought up in Gorakhpur, U.P., Satyendra P Tripathi, Vice President IT & CIO at Emami Agrotech Limited completed his basic schooling at Gurukul Madhyamik Vidyalaya where the students used to do Hawan and chant Vedic Mantras before classes. “My school taught me to be honest, be good to everyone, groom yourself as a person with very high integrity, never in your life follow wrong means to make money and live with simplicity. All these values were ingrained within me since my school days. I still cherish the divine connection and recite mantras almost every day; as I always found peace and pleasure in doing so. This all helped me in being a better version of myself over a period. Due to holding all these good values, I feel I do not have any regrets, nor do I have any sufferings. This all gives me a lot of inner strength and courage. I always feel, nothing is impossible to do; it’s only our sheer grit and determination, which makes it possible.”
Tripathi says that he did his postgraduate in Computer Science from Allahabad and Executive MBA from Amity, Noida. He is also a Six Sigma Black Belt through one of the corporate learning instincts. In addition to this, he has also acquired a lot of certificates, technology skills and leadership training through corporate training programs. Initially, he was planning to do an MBA but later he found his interest in information technology, which was flourishing those days. He was fascinated by the way IT and business automation were giving fresh direction to the whole business ecosystem.
Tripathi says he became independent at a very young age and always made his own decisions. “My father used to travel a lot because of his job and he used to spend less time with us. I always used to think about what kind of career would be suitable for me. During my school/college days, I was my teachers’ favourite. They always used to guide me a lot, I will always be indebted to them.” He says that his father is his inspiration and hero and his strength reflects his father’s great personality. He further adds that God has blessed him with a wonderful spouse, who stood by him all the time and has always been a great source of encouragement, motivation, and support throughout his life journey. “I will confess that without her support this fulfilling journey was not at all possible. I give credit for my success to my parents, family, teachers, mentors, and my IT team.”
Tripathi says that when he started working at one of the large enterprises in his professional journey, he was just a simple head of IT for one of their plants. The top leadership team once visited the plant and during our conversation, they saw some spark in him. “One of my seniors asked me why am I sticking to one place in the enterprise when I can get a lot of opportunities. He contacted me a few days later and that’s how I started getting a lot of assignments within the same enterprise. Six months later, a time came when if there was any complex assignment to do in a limited time frame then I was called most of the time. They trusted me and gave me tremendous opportunities for my professional growth, and I am happy that I could prove them right”. Satyendra says that he was lucky to have great mentors, who helped him shape his career and become a good leader; subsequently, in his professional journey, he mentored a lot of good professionals, who are now heading IT in many organizations.
Tripathi’s advice to an upcoming professional is to focus on the task entrusted to you and put all your energy & efforts into completing it successfully and on time. He says, “Never stop your learning, once you stop your learning, your progress will stop. A positive attitude, better time management, continuous learning and sheer grit and determination are the way to success. You should not hesitate to take guidance from your seniors whenever needed. My seniors have always encouraged and shown trust in me, which helped me to develop a ‘YES I CAN’ attitude. Whenever I needed any help, there was a whole ecosystem to support me and show me the right path.” sharing one of his personal experiences, he adds, “One organization which had failed HANA implementation and were not able to understand where the things were going wrong. They contacted me to lead their whole digital journey and within a short time, this whole journey was completed, and implementation was quite successful. This all was possible because of the great network of experts, detailed planning, ability to bring excitement within the whole project team, team-building skills and great team effort. It is very important to show belief in the ability of your team and give them further strength. When I am working on any project, I am approachable to even the junior-most person within the team. I always give my team confidence and lead by example.”
Once he retires, Tripathi wants to do something new in his second inning. He aspires to start a non-profit organization for less privileged people to give them a platform to grow in their life.
