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Fuelled by ever-increasing need for bandwidth, mobility and convergence, digital signal processing (DSP) is one of the fastest growing segments. Amrita Ghosh of IT@TT met Sattam Dasgupta, key member of the Leadership Team at ITTIAM (I Think, Therefore I Am), a company focussed on DSP. Excepts..

IT@TT: All 7 founder members of ITTIAM were in TI before, right? So when did you think of bringing your consolidated DSP experience into founding a new entity, and why?

SD: We've all been working in this industry for 15-33 years, either in India or abroad. Of the seven of us, two are currently in USA and UK respectively. We all have truly global experience in marketing, product development, and essentially, in structuring new organizations. We wanted to do all of these, but for an Indian company.

So over the course of many discussions we realized that all of us shared the same dream. If you go back in time, you'll realize that even before the 1980s, Indian engineers have been doing wonders in the USA. Their reputation is well known. The success was felt closer home, when in the 1990s a number of engineering companies did tremendously well.

We believe, Indian engineers can do well not only in the USA, but at home too, if the climate is conducive. So we want people to appreciate an industry where Indian engineers will be credited with making good products out of India. Somehow, all of us had the same motivation, and it just came together. That's been the singular driving factor.

IT@TT: How are you creating a new identity that's distinctive from TI?

SD: We founded ITTIAM, with the aim of making world-class leadership technology products, and not to be different from TI. If you look at companies like TI, Analog Devices and Lucent, there is actually a difference in the space that we're operating in. All these companies manufacture chips. At the other end of the scale are end-equipment manufacturers, like Nokia, Sony, and Mitsubishi.

We're not into any of these spaces. But we fill up the intermediate space between the chip manufacturers and end-equipment manufacturers, which involves tremendous amount of IP.

The Intellectual Property involved in this process requires an understanding of the end-equipment, whether existing or new, as well as an understanding of how the chip performs. Based on that, you actually design the system that's going to reside in the end-equipment and the functions that are required of it. This involves software development on a DSP chip. A chip can do lots of things. But it needs to be instructed and empowered. When a customer gives us specifications or we get an idea, then we actually decide on the algorithm to be used.

There are numerous DSPs for various applications. We develop the software, and put the reference board together with the DSP chip, other chips and software. That's the proof of concept, our product. So we don't manufacture either chip or board. We do all the R&D, and give the reference board to the customer. They then take it to the mass manufacturers.

IT@TT: Have you manufactured any finished products yet?

SD: Not yet. We set up operations very recently, in early 2001 and, we're catering to 15 customers worldwide. We offer two types of products-customized products and internal products. The customized products are made to the customer's specification, and they hold the IP for that. But if we implement changes during execution, then that IP is ours. We're already earning revenue for these. The internal products are executed according to our ideas, which we then license to customers, and earn royalty. We're developing these products, which will hit the market around second quarter of 2002.

IT@TT: Does ITTIAM have any other means of earning revenues?

SD: No. We're VC-funded and have no JVs. However, we do have a subsidiary in the USA, a worldwide marketing representative in the UK and an office in Japan, apart from Bangalore, which is our headquarters. That's how we operate. We're happy with the initial going and aim to grow into a 200 people company by the end of 2002.

IT@TT: So you must be recruiting quite heavily at the moment? How about Eastern India?

SD: Yes, we're recruiting and we're looking all over the place for people. Since you mentioned this, let me share some people aspects of ITTIAM with you. We believe that there are no employees or compensation packages in our company. We're all co-owners of a dream, and we all get rewarded for our stake in ITTIAM. Everyone, whether a founder member or a fresher, shares the same privileges, and we expect everyone in ITTIAM to have the same zeal of vision to meet the challenge of being the best DSP Software and Systems company from India. We even offer everyone separate cubicles.

IT@TT: ITTIAM sounds interesting. But the age-old Descartesian philosophy behind 'I Think, Therefore I Am' is quite a cliché now. How did you decide on such a name?

SD: But it's so true! It's one of the best statements ever made about a human being. Descartes was an extremely creative and analytical person who addressed the whole problem of existence through this sentiment. These are skills that we expect our engineers to possess. We're in the IT business. We think products and so we exist through products. That's who we are and that's how we make our presence felt.

IT@TT: But, don't you think that in a company culture, it can become contradictory and damaging in its heightened sense of ego and individualism?

SD: Oh no! We take good care to prevent our philosophy from becoming counter-productive. Respect for the individual forms the core of our belief. And we try and harmonize as much as possible in our work culture. The statement may be old, but it's the best possible statement made of the thought-consciousness process. We always respected this particular thought and since our area of work is intensely thought-centric, ITTIAM seemed a natural choice of name. It makes you feel good.

IT@TT: Could you share with our readers 5-10 of your favorite websites?

SD: www.eetimes.com. It's the most informative magazine in our field of work. Another favorite is www.howstuffworks.com. It's excellent for any application I mentioned. Not any others I can think of.

Interviewed By Amrita Ghosh
[email protected]

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