Anku Jain, Managing Director, MediaTek India
Anku Jain comes with over 25 years of diverse experience. He began his career in 1992 as a senior software engineer with Tata Unisys Limited, then went on to have exciting stints with Sprint RPG India, Network Programs India and the River Run Software Group before deciding to take the entrepreneurial route.
Jain’s entrepreneurial journey began in 2000, when he started Pixtel Communications, a company dedicated to developing software solutions for mobile phones. As senior director and founding member of the company, he helped develop Pixtel from a services-centric technology start-up to a product company, which eventually got acquired by MediaTek, Inc. in 2004. Jain has been associated with MediaTek for 16 years now.
In his current role as managing director, MediaTek India, he heads two research business units and manages the company’s pan-Indian operations. He is also responsible for internal and external communications, including building and maintaining relations with customers, partners and the government.
Jain believes that being a part of MediaTek India’s journey since 2004 and creating an R&D facility that is now at par with international research centres is one of the most memorable phases of his career. “It has been a fruitful, challenging and rewarding journey, from the inception to developing a centre of excellence for chip design and leading-edge software,” says Jain.
MediaTek has come a long way, Jain notes, and is today the world’s fourth-largest fabless semiconductor company. But it also has miles to go. Its broad-ranging product portfolio – comprising smartphones, smart home devices, artificial intelligence of things (AIoT), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. – is aimed at enabling technology democratisation in India. “We believe India has the potential to be a global R&D and manufacturing hub, and are striving to make this vision a reality with our expertise and innovative solutions,” he says.
Being a part of a multinational company such as MediaTek has helped him imbibe qualities like business leadership, strategy formation, cross-cultural team management, site operations and engineering proficiency, which he sees as his key professional strengths. Jain has a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from IIT Delhi and an executive MBA in general management from IIM Calcutta.
To Jain, free time signifies the opportunity to indulge in passions and acquire new skills. He is an avid reader, and an adventure and fitness enthusiast. He also likes listening to music and sharing moments with his family, which comprises his parents, wife and two children.
