San Francisco, CA -
It is a journey that has taken Mohan Gyani to the highest echelons of
corporatedom as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
of AirTouch Communications, a leading global wireless communications
company with operations in 12 countries including India.
Gyani came to the United States over 25 years ago when his father, an Indian Foreign Service official, was posted at the Indian Consulate in San Francisco.
Armed with a MBA from San Francisco Stste University, Gyani joined Pacific Telephone in 1978 and went through a host of assignments before he moved to AT&T in 1983 to assist in the financial planning when the breakup occured.
After this assignment was complete, he returned to the treasury department at Pacific. He then went through the mill at Pacific, working in Corporate Finance, Financial Planning, and other finance departments.
The move to AirTouch Communications came in 1994 after it was spun off from Pacific. "It is a very unique opportunity to be a CFO of AirTouch, " says Gyani, who is wholly responsible for managing the financial affairs of the company. "All financial accountability starts here," says Gyani.
In an age when job hopping is deriguer, Gyani has resisted the impulse to move. "I had an opportunity to do a lot of job switches without having to switch employers. I was being treated well. I was recognised." says Gyani. He mentions the entrepreneurial climate prevailing in AirTouch Communications as a factor motivating his decision.
Gyani cites three values that have been critical to his success in the corporate world: integrity and honesty in every thing you do; willingness to work hard ("don't get distracted by the millions of things") and accept responsibility.
Amidst his busy schedule, Gyani does squeeze in some tennis and to listen to music, both Indian and Western. His personal favourite being Ghazals by Jagjit Singh. There is very little time to play an active role in the Indian Community though. "There are more and more activities happening in the Indian community. It is hard to keep up," confesses Gyani but adds that he is willing to extend his experience and time to worthwhile activities in the community.
Like other Indian professionals now, Gyani also harbors entrepreneurial dreams. "The entrepreneurial spirit stays alive. But it gets more and more difficult as you get entrenched," says Gyani who continuously strives to strike a right balance between his professional life and personal life.
 INDOlink
|  NRI News
|