Sharad Mehrotra: A tech guy who embraces change yet plays his own game
On February 1, 2020, dtac appointed Sharad Mehrotra as chief executive. Mehrotra, formerly CEO of Telenor Myanmar, has over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. In a wide-ranging interview, Mehrotra discusses his vision for the company, the beauty of working in the telecom industry, the importance of good teams, yoga and his favorite Thai dish. Originally hailing from the Indian city of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, about 500 kilometers from the capital of New Delhi, Sharad Mehrotra had the childhood aspiration of becoming an engineer – one he fulfilled, by securing admission to the University of Pune, where he took up a degree in electrical engineering. “I think that was something like a dream coming true,” he says. “Those four years were a very exciting time for me – I was learning new things, and something very, very different.” Mehrotra immediately enrolled in an MBA program after engineering, after which he began his career with Ericsson in India, at the time when GSM (2G) was being rolled out in the country. “Working there was a game changer for me,” Mehrotra says of his time at Ericsson, crediting a training course at a regional assessment center for developing in him leadership…