What he is today, he says, has a lot to do with what his parents encouraged him to do during childhood. He always sought leadership roles during his school and university days. A competitive table-tennis player in school, his competitive edge made him play against players much more experienced than he was. “Now, when I look back, I realise it was a challenge to play against players who were stronger, more energetic and more experienced. Today I compete with those in the business world who are much bigger, stronger and well-established,” he says.
An outstanding student during school, he always excelled in mathematics. “I wanted to become a mathematician. The art of numbers intrigued me,” remembers Kalai. “My parents, however, asked me, ‘Why don’t you do something that can make a bigger impact on society, instead of becoming a mathematician?’ I have grown up with that spirit – it drives me. So, then the best choice was to become an engineer, which at the same time would allow me to use my mathematical skills.”
His father, Venkatapathi Shanmugham, a chief financial officer, was always a dedicated and hardworking professional. Later, he started his own entrepreneurial journey. Kalai’s mother, Sethu, he says, “is a homemaker and has been the pillar of the family. She has always taken care of the family, kept us together. She is a woman of multiple talents and is curious about everything from art to computers”. He adds, “All three of us siblings, my elder brother, Kumar, a CA in Canada, elder sister, Chitra, a dentist in California and our families are still very close”.
Kalai pursued a bachelor of engineering (honours) from Madras University, Guindy Engineering College, Chennai, which is one of the oldest institutions in India. What next, he had no clue; but, his professor, Prof. Sujeer, nudged him to for a masters in electrical engineering, specialising in numerical mathematical modelling at the University of Toronto. Within a month, he was selected with a full scholarship. He later completed a Ph.D. in the same field from the University of Toronto.
A step of discomfort into a new world!
True to his nature of taking up challenges, Kalai landed in Canada on 11 January 1982, an extremely wintry day. He remembers how his thesis supervisor, Prof. Lavers, and many of his friends, like Prof. K. Ponnambalam, helped him adapt and adjust to Canada.
Kalai’s Ph.D. thesis was based on the work of a Russian mathematician, Prof. Mavergoyz, who coincidentally met Prof. Lavers at a conference where the latter was presenting one of the many papers Kalai wrote. It happened to have upped the original work of Prof. Mavergoyz by several notches and impressed him a lot, so much so that he agreed to be Kalai’s external examiner.
Kalai, Dr. Kalaichelvan once he completed his Ph.D. in 1988, had four job offers – two in the USA and two in Canada. He decided to stay in Canada and joined one of the premier research labs of Canada, Bell Northern Research (BNR) in Ottawa. It determined his new trajectory of life in Canada. Well-settled now, it was time to advance his personal life as well. He got married to his friend, Suresh’s sister, Sujatha, an M.Com., with certified management accountant (CPA, CMA) certifications. Thereafter, she joined Export Development Canada as a financial analyst. Since 2014, Sujatha has been a leading real-estate broker in Ottawa, winning consecutive Platinum Awards from ReMax Realty. While both are passionate about achieving their goals, Sujatha has always provided her unwavering support to Kalai, even at times when he had an intense international travel schedule, which sometimes took up most of the year.
Sujatha and Kalai have a daughter, Anusha, who is currently studying dentistry at New York University, after completing her health sciences degree in Canada. She, from an early age, engaged in thought-provoking discussions with Kalai. This has contributed innovative ideas for Kalai’s businesses. She has an impeccable record of getting trained at Walt Disney and the prestigious Johns Hopkins University, resulting in multiple research publications.
After a few years in BNR, Kalai joined Nortel, where he rose to the position of vice president and general manager, ran three business units and took them to become hugely successful and profitable enterprises. It was his mentor, Terry Curtis, who picked him from a bunch of junior engineers and propelled him up so rapidly, seeing his leadership skills. He credits his dear friend and mentor, Dr. Rama Munikoti, who was instrumental throughout his journey of success at Nortel. Rama was extremely proud when Kalai was honoured with the Platinum Top Talent award, which had been given to only a few out of the estimated 100,000 people at Nortel at that time. “The one person who has stood beside me single-handedly through all the ups and downs of my career in the past 25 years is my assistant Esther Leafloor. She has been a pillar of support, who made me focus on my goals and not on the noise around me,” says Kalai.
The urge to do something on his own and make an impact on society led him to leave Nortel in 2001 to embark on his passion – to be an entrepreneur. Unlike many who want to start one company, Kalai co-founded four companies. Two of them, Cistech Limited and Cistel Technology, were co-founded with two of his friends, Dr. Nishith Goel and Dr. Praveen Jain. The other two that he co-founded in 2000, where he was at the helm, were EION Wireless and IPINE Networks. The latter was acquired by Nakina which in turn was acquired by NOKIA. He was also the co-founder of CHIL Semiconductors, which was acquired by International Rectifier.
“Today, we have a lot of EION products deployed in India and around the world. TATA communications and BSNL have been major customers. Over 8,000 EION wireless links are deployed in Gujarat and 15 Indian airports as well as major US airports like Los Angeles, JFK and Dallas–Fort Worth, which use our products to monitor and manage runway traffic control systems. Today over 450,000 wireless radios are deployed globally,” he says with satisfaction.
Kalai has received numerous awards throughout his career, including Canada’s Innovator of Year in 2004 and EION being ranked in Deloitte’s Fast 50 list, three times.
Connection with India: A family tradition
Looking back at his family in India, Kalai says, “My grandfathers had an immense influence on me. My maternal grandfather was a leading lawyer and his influence is on my professional qualities and instilling family values. From my paternal grandfather, I learned that one’s word is gold and should be good enough.” The things that he learned from his grandparents, parents and teachers made him work and reach the top of many ladders. At the same time, these fundamental values of trust have cost him grief and heartache in some instances but that has never distracted him from his journey of success.
Sujatha and Kalai are active in social and philanthropic work, including the creation of an endowment at the Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa Foodbank, Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation, Annai Karunai Illam Plan International, World Vision, Shriners Hospital, Development of India Together (Do-IT), etc., to name a few.
He contributes a lot to the development of entrepreneurship in the community by grooming, influencing and mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs as a Charter Member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE-Ottawa). His hallmark is the excitement in which he helps people and in being a catalyst for numerous businesses to take them beyond what the founders dream. Many credit him for providing access to his sphere of influence and his personal positivity and belief in them for changing their life trajectories.
His journey to the top has seemingly been hurdle free, though he believes there is always a moment when you get tired and want to stay where you have reached. And that is when your conviction in your dreams pushes you forward. Winston Churchill once said, “Success is not final. Failure is not fatal”, which means one has to continue to succeed in what they are doing, no matter what.