“Competitive pressures and consumer demand are forcing engineers such as radio frequency engineers, medical device manufacturers and algorithm engineers to look for new ways to shorten the time it takes to innovate and design new products,” he says.

Pillai obtained a master’s degree in electronics from the Indian Navy and spent 15 years with the navy before joining National Instruments as an applications engineer in 1996. Over the years, he moved up the organisational ladder and held several senior positions before taking over as MD in 2003.

According to Pillai, National Instruments India provides customers with a single, unifying development platform for designing, prototyping and deploying their systems. “Today, the company is being increasingly sought after to address engineering challenges of higher complexity and scale. The industry is breaking new ground in segments like telecommunications, automotive and energy,” he says.

According to Pillai, the telecom sector will witness a faster rate of change in technology adoption. For instance, 3G was introduced last year and the industry is already moving on to 4G through LTE technology. “As higher bandwidth is available through 3G, LTE and LTE Advanced, we are being compelled to innovate to provide higher throughput and shorter test development processes,” he notes.

One of the accomplishments that Pillai is particularly proud of is the company’s academic programme. “Good quality engineers are the foundation of India Inc. National Instruments provides students, educators and researchers with the tools that enable them to move beyond classroom concepts and really ‘do’ engineering. Over the last decade, we have collaborated with more than 3,000 colleges to improve the quality of engineers,” he says.

Pillai values commitment, loyalty and performance, and encourages innovation. He often provides his team with contrasting opinions to help them approach challenges with greater perspective.