Vivek Paul

By Jyoti Thottam/New York

By age 38, Vivek Paul had already seen his American Dream come true. He arrived in the U.S. from India as an M.B.A. student in 1980, worked hard, married, started a family and rose to a top job at GE, having been recruited by Jack Welch himself. Then, in 1999, Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro, an Indian conglomerate, called him back to India. He asked Paul, a former water-polo captain, to take over his software unit, Wipro Technologies. "He said, 'You can build another skyscraper in New York,'" Paul says, "'or you can build a completely new thing in India.'" Paul took the challenge. He transformed Wipro Technologies from a $150 million software developer into a $1 billion force in offshore outsourcing, handling IT and customer service for companies ranging from Delta Air Lines to Best Buy. But in order for Wipro to join the ranks of giants like IBM, Paul says he has to change his employees' attitudes. "Indians are seen as great individual contributors, not great managers," he says. To turn his army of techies into sophisticated global consultants, he is investing in training in such "soft skills" as talking to clients. With his home in the U.S. and his work in India, Paul has a dual take on the furor over outsourcing. He champions India's software industry but also supports a better safety net for displaced workers in the U.S. "My kids are growing up here," he says. "It's as important for me to do well in my business as it is to make sure that they grow up with a healthy economic outlook." His American Dream, it turns out, isn't quite complete. --By Jyoti Thottam/New York