Raj Biyani is the head of India operations for Microsoft IT and the CIO/Product
Group Strategic Initiatives organization. Microsoft IT-India is Microsoft's largest
IT operation outside of corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington - an eight
year old organization with talented IT professionals who consider it a great place
to build their career dreams and aspirations.
Raj is an entrepreneur with a string of high-impact incubations at Microsoft. In
his 12 year career at Microsoft, he has worked in the Office, Developer Division,
Windows and Online Services business groups. As General Manager for CIO/Product
Group Strategic Initiatives, he is helping shape the cloud adoption strategy for
Microsoft IT in moving the first generation of enterprise applications on the cloud.
Raj has demonstrated an ability to see opportunities early and generate executive
support for initiatives to capitalize on those opportunities. Raj led the envisioning
and successful creation of the Windows Marketplace - an electronic software delivery
platform for Microsoft.
Raj uses a fact-based, analytical approach to complex business challenges, but is
quick to credit his accomplishments to the high-performance teams he has built over
the years. By combining cutting edge management thinking with a start-up mindset,
he has led nimble teams to deliver results. A living example of 'servant leadership',
Raj is consistently ranked as a top people leader at Microsoft.
Raj holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Accounting from Goshen College,
Indiana, where he serves on the President's Advisory Council. Raj has an MBA with
Honors from the University of Chicago. He is an avid consumer of cutting-edge business
thinking reflected in his vast collection of business books, many autographed by
their authors. He holds one EU and seven US patents.
Raj recognizes the role that the educational institutions have played in his life
and considers it his privilege and duty to give back. He has set up endowed scholarships
at his alma mater that have benefited students from twelve countries.
Raj loves racket sports and enjoys his time on the tennis and squash courts. During
his school days in Pilani, he was a table-tennis champion. He has moved from Bellevue,
Washington to Hyderabad with his wife and their two young children.