The Shakti-man of India, Veezhinathan Kamakoti is the director of IIT Madras, and has kept the institution at the top of all universities in the nation. The genius behind India’s first microprocessor, Shakti, has been relentlessly working to strengthen the nation's semiconductor capabilities and reduce reliance on Chinese imports.
“This is something we have achieved over the past 10 years; I have completely given up everything else to work for SHAKTI.” For the past few years, Kamakoti has been rallying for an increase in the investments for semiconductor startups, which is still viewed as a risky area for many VCs.
Kamakoti was the chairperson of the AI Task Force, which was constituted in 2016 by the ministry of commerce and industry. The AI Task Force report highlighted how AI can be used as an economic transformer for the country. Apart from this, currently he is also a crucial member of the BharatGPT initiative.