Growing up, Peter Quinlan had a diverse set of ambitions. At one point of time he wanted to be a baseball player, at another, a professional surfer. “These ambitions changed due to my limited talent in those fields and more fortunately, due to an inspirational physics teacher I had in high school. While pursuing higher studies, I served for three months as a volunteer in northern Pakistan and was fascinated with the region. So I went home (the US) and studied Indian history, Hindi and Urdu, which ultimately brought me back to India with my first job,” he says.

Growing up, Peter Quinlan had a diverse set of ambitions. At one point of time he wanted to be a baseball player, at another, a professional surfer. “These ambitions changed due to my limited talent in those fields and more fortunately, due to an inspirational physics teacher I had in high school. While pursuing higher studies, I served for three months as a volunteer in northern Pakistan and was fascinated with the region. So I went home (the US) and studied Indian history, Hindi and Urdu, which ultimately brought me back to India with my first job,” he says.

Quinlan started his career with Dell Computers and was its first employee in India. He later also worked with Getronics. Currently, he is vice-president, integrated business video services, Tata Communications, and is focused on strengthening the company’s position in areas such as telepresence and video services through new service and product launches.

Quinlan, who has 20 years of experience in the telecom space, states that this industry has undergone a sea change over the years. When he began his career, mobile phones, internet and email were novel concepts. Today, he sees the world being overtaken by emerging concepts like bring your own device (BYOD), unified communications and cloud computing. “With the proliferation of smartphones and the increasing popularity of BYOD, users are no longer content with what IT provides them in the office; they want the latest functionality available on the device of their choice. IT organisations and operators have to work hard to stay relevant and ensure a great user experience.”

According to him, the industry is moving towards unified communications. He expects significant industry consolidation and churn as previously separate silos like voice, videoconferencing, audio and web collaboration, and messaging are provided as a seamless experience, placing new demands on the network.

Describing his management style, he says, “I am not a micro manager. I like to get the right people in place, ensure we are aligned with regard to our goals and how we measure success, and empower them to figure out the right way to get there, offering support where it is needed.”

In his spare time, Quinlan enjoys reading science fiction, history and classic literature. To stay fit, he likes to go running and swimming.

As a leader, Shetty believes it is necessary to empower his team to enable them to take appropriate decisions. He also underlines the need for employees to strive to deliver a satisfactory customer experience. A firm believer in the “walk the talk” concept, he makes sure he practises this in his professional dealings.

Time away from work is spent with family. A frequent traveller, Shetty says he particularly enjoyed visiting Scotland and Maldives. He unwinds by gardening and watching soccer and comedy shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and How I Met Your Mother.