According to the Corporate Dossier business columnist for The Economic Times of India, Autodesk CEO Carol Bartz had the Indian business elite eating from her hand during a recent visit to India. The column reports on her visit twice, once for the gossip, and the second time to cover her speech on "Transforming Ideas Into Reality."
"I made a mistake in not coming to India earlier," Bartz told her select audience of CEO's. She then went on to describe the global opportunities awaiting those willing to seize the moment. "We have become part of a global community and it has seriously affected what my customers do," Bartz said. She warned against complacency, advising the CEOs to get "ready for cycles and how technology is affecting cycles ... I hear the word 'change' more often now than in the past 20 years."
"The charismatic and charming Carol Bartz" visited Mumbai (home of Bollywood, a growing market for Autodesk's Discrete division), New Delhi (the government and financial capital), and Bangalore (the technology center) for business, the ET says. She also made time for tourist destinations including Jaipur and Agra. The columnist nailed down something we tend to ignore in the Western technology press: there is a Mr. Bartz; William, retired 3Com executive. He made the trip as well.
In response to questions, she calls President Bush, "intelligent and extremely courteous," but recalled past encounters with men in leadership positions with less fondness, including a thinly veiled reference to Autodesk co-founder John Walker. "I don't have the patience to deal with such people any longer."