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Colonel Gopi Gopalakrishnan, hardly strikes you as the typical ex-army man. Yes there’s the upright carriage and sense of deportment accompanied by good old-fashioned chivalry. But the military man’s court of armour gets a few chinks that introduce you to a warm and sincere personality. As he recounts his extensive experience in the Indian army and workplace successes in Europe & Middle East thereafter, you tend to see where that calm assertiveness and strength of character come from.
“The Indian army gave me a lot of confidence in management vis-à-vis managing people, resources and updating myself to the latest technological changes in the world in IT and Communications Technology. It gave me a sense of commitment, dedication, and most importantly it taught me leadership qualities and excellent communication and interpersonal skills,” he says. These qualities saw Gopalakrishnan “shoulder large responsibilities – from personnel management to implementing various ICT projects in Europe, Middle East and in India at all levels’.
Gopi Gopalakrishnan took early retirement from the Indian army, bidding adieu to the army as a Colonel. On why he chose an early exit from a career that had been an integral part of his life and inspiration, Colonel Gopalakrishnan says, “I wanted to enter the ICT world and practise what I learned in the Armed Forces. ”
Work and life post the army took Gopalakrishnan globetrotting all over Europe and Middle East where he worked with various establishments and world-renowned organisations in the IT and Telecommunications companies for over a decade. His fluency in German won him instant appeal in the German ICT market and he worked for a number of prestigious assignments there.
Gopi Gopalakrishnan later chose to work in the Middle East more for personal reasons and landed the post of CEO and ICT Expert with a Technology Company there. He had participated in the Middle East ICT Policy discussions too. However, the Sultanate roused his interest professionally as well. “I found there was a lot to contribute towards the country’s growth in my field of expertise which is ICT, especially in the Middle East which is scaling great heights in telecom and technology,” he says.
He has brought in a lot of new synergies to whichever place he works. “My vision for today’s is to extend my vast ICT experience to the world in general and Africa in particular through a mixture of delivering next generation technology and knowledge sharing from fellow experts in the field of ICT worldwide. We propose to do this by understanding the needs of every organisation, he says.
As much as his day is preoccupied with the accomplishment of such noble ideals, Gopalakrishnan does find time to pursue his passion – playing active games. “I love Golf, Tennis and like travel. I’ve travelled to more than 29 countries in Europe Middle East and Asia Pacific for I like to meet people and develop good relationships too,” says Gopi. He is well connected in the professional network LinkedIn : http://de.linkedin.com/in/colonelgopi
What is his message to today’s world ? “Today’s world needs competent people with the ability to learn as they grow. Competence has to be added with a flavour of team spirit, sense of commitment, while at the same time one must accept responsibility and be proactive in any line of career one does.”
