Harish Mehta

Executive Chairman
Onward Technologies

Harish Mehta was the driving force behind galvanizing the IT industry in India by co-founding NASSCOM, the IT industry’s association. He was elected as the first Chairman of NASSCOM and continues to be the Convener of NASSCOM’s Chairman’s Council. Harish has a long history of success as an Indian entrepreneur, investor and changemaker. He has founded, led, grown & mentored the Onward Group of companies. He introduced Silicon-Valley’s The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) to India and now TiE has 21 chapters in India. He is the Director of the Indian Angel Network (IAN), one of the world’s largest and most active angel investor groups. He is also a former Director of Gujarat Venture Funds Limited, a former Expert Advisor at Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for its Fund of Funds Operations, and a founding member of Infinity Venture Fund, India’s first corporate VC fund.

Harish has recently penned the national bestseller ‘The Maverick Effect’. Currently in its fourth reprint, the book is being translated into multiple Indian languages & is available internationally. He has been selected for the CAII x SKOCH Foundation’s ‘CEO’s Choice Author of the Year Award’ and his book has been shortlisted by Gaja Capital as one of the ‘Top 5 Business Books of 2022’.

For his contributions, Harish has been awarded with ‘25 years of Exemplary Contribution to Indian IT’, by PM Narendra Modi, a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’, by IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry and ‘CEO of the Year’, by NMIMS, Tata HRD Network, and World HRD Congress.

About Harish Mehta:

Harish founded Onward Technologies, a business that specialized in digital transformation, back in 1991.

However, it was not till 1993, when the American giant – Novell was scouting for an Indian partner, did Onward transcend to new heights. Harish negotiated a 50-50 JV, – a historic first for any Indian IT enterprise – giving birth to Onward Novell. He subsequently established the first significant software-based R&D center in India, for Novell.

Today Onward Technologies is run by Harish’s son and is a global engineering and analytics services organization headquartered in Mumbai and has 2800+ employees across 14 offices in 6 countries. Onward services the largest 2000 global companies in North America & Europe and is working with 6 of the global Top-10 automotive companies, as well as 5 of global Top-8 heavy machinery companies. Harish is currently Executive Chairman of the board.