E-Paper
Who is Nivruti Rai? All you need to know about the Nari Shakti Puraskar winner
A mother of two and a designer at heart, she left the youth to believe in the power of technology and reskilling. Phenomenal in her career and vision, she is a stellar figure and an inspiration for all who dream big. Meet Nivruti Rati – recipient of Nari Shakti Purushkar:
“I may not be the smartest person, but I’m a go-getter. I never give up,” says Nivruti Rai, Country Head, Intel India and VP-Intel Foundry Services.
A renowned tech-pundit, She is the recipient of the Nari Shakti Puraskar on International Women's Day 2022 in recognition of her exceptional contribution to women's empowerment.
She was honoured for her achievements in the field of technology, for developing power-efficient semiconductor chips and new rural connectivity solutions for cost-effective & high-speed broadband connections.
Early life
Born in November 1969 in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh as the third daughter to her parents, Nivruthi was seen as a burden by many in her family. But who knew she would grow up to become a top functionary of the Indian unit of the $70-billion U.S.-based semiconductor behemoth!
She migrated to the US after marrying Dr Sunit Tyagi and grabbed a BS in mathematics and operations research from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, followed by a master's degree in engineering from Oregon State University.
She joined Intel in 1994 and moved to Bengaluru, India as a hardcore technologist in 2005. Working in two countries, she led teams across the globe and worked her way up to create value for Intel India and the Indian ecosystem as a whole.
Achievements
She was among the five featured women under The Reykjavík Global Forum - Women Leaders' Leading Edge, an initiative that celebrates and amplify the work of women, fostering economic growth and social change. She was also placed at No.19 on the list of Fortune India’s 2019 Most Powerful Women in business.
She happens to be the first NRI to receive dual citizenship (OCI) from the Indian government in 2006.
Rai is thirsty for knowledge and committed to innovation, and had worked on various subjects and presented twelve research papers along with application modules. She holds patent rights on five of them.
She is the leading face of Intel India’s product development drive in emerging technologies such as: Artificial intelligence (AI), 5G (fifth-generation cellular network technology), autonomous systems for SoC (system-on-a-chip, which is essentially a chip), the Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud computing. As Vice-President of Foundry Services, she is in charge of IP design services and automotive verticals.
In 2013, her team was awarded an Intel Achievement Award for contributing to the development of the Minute Intel architecture core.
Contributions
Rai has been a strong advocate and champion of AI and ML, and a firm believer in the power of innovation to create value for people and economic growth.
According to Rai, a major challenge for women technologists is that they are often placed in low-risk positions, and technological areas are bound to be risky. But she has defied that perception.
Under Rai’s leadership, Intel India created a long-term framework of "cloud, network, edge-computing and devices" to support R&D, government and industry, and has launched programmes for skill training, rural connectivity, and the establishment of AI research centres.
She has capitalised on her position at Intel to promote India’s digitalisation with the focus on creating “population-scale” solutions with technology. The company claims to have trained over 2 million children as well as 5,000 government officials and has incubated over 70 start-ups under Nivruti.
A mother of two and a designer at heart, she left the youth to believe in the power of technology and reskilling. Phenomenal in her career and vision, she is a stellar figure and an inspiration for all who dream big.
