An evening with Ms Lakshmi Mukkavilli
Introduction
On Friday, July 25, we had an insightful session by Ms Lakshmi Mukkavilli, MD, Patra India BPO Services.
About Lakshmi Mukkavilli
Lakshmi Mukkavilli has an impressive career spanning over 30 years including 19+ years as the Managing Director of Patra India BPO Services. Her expertise and strategic vision have served as a unifying force, fostering collaboration and synergy among teams located in Vizag, Raipur, Coimbatore, and Warangal.
In addition to her responsibilities at Patra, Lakshmi holds several significant positions that underscore her dedication to industry growth and gender equality. As the President of iTAAP (IT Association of Andhra Pradesh), she actively contributes to the advancement of the IT/ITES sector in the region. Also, she is the immediate past chairwoman of the CII Indian Women Network for the Southern Region, emphasizing her commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion.
Lakshmi is an ICF Certified Coach. She has received the prestigious "US Global Impact Award" from Patra Corporation and "The Most Talented Leader Award" from Asia Outsourcing Congress in Mumbai for her exceptional leadership skills.
The glass ceiling
We have all heard the phrase, breaking the glass ceiling for years. But we need to go far beyond that. What if the ceiling is no longer made from glass, but out of our own assumptions, systems, and comfort zones?
This isn't just a leaky pipeline issue or broken rung where women drop off at mid-level management, due to marriage, children, need to care for the elderly and pass on the leadership opportunities to their men peers. It's about mindset, culture and design. How do we redesign the entire underlying structure, so that the next generation of women can manage the environment around them with confidence and go beyond the ceiling?
We've all heard the numbers: Women impacting tech make up only 26%, and the percentage of women in leadership roles are even lower. We have made progress. More women than ever are choosing tech as a career. More women are getting degrees in STEM. We do have some powerful women leading major tech companies. We have women entrepreneurs even in India. But beneath that progress there is also a subtle, harder truth. Women still make up a small fraction of leadership roles in tech. Women are underpaid, undervalued, and are always overlooked. They face the unconscious bias, gender stereotypes and systemic gaps in mentorship, visibility and opportunity.
A recent study by Ericsson showed that even in global companies, women in tech consistently reported the imposter syndrome (having self-doubt despite being competent), being passed over, or feeling invisible in meetings, even when they were the most qualified in the room.
When women do speak up, they are told they are emotional. When they lead decisively, they are told they are aggressive. It's a frustrating, exhausting dance between being seen and being accepted. And for many women, motherhood becomes a penalty instead of being recognized as the leadership experience it truly is.
The story of Jyoti
Jyoti, Ms Lakshmi’s niece studied at IIT Bombay and then went to MIT. She is a co-founder of the company, Tejas, along with her brother who joined her much later. They have been working on cutting edge aerospace technology and have developed sensors for fighter jets. For her achievements, Jyoti has even received an award from the Union Minister of Defence Sri Rajnath Singh. Young entrepreneurs like Jyoti are showing the world that women are not just participating in tech. They are building it, owning it and redefining it.
On her own journey
For Ms Lakshmi, the corporate journey was not easy, especially in the beginning. She got a seat at the table being one of the very first people to join the company. Often, she was the lone woman in the meetings. She would be invisible and just sit at the table. As time went by, she made her voice heard, which really helped in taking some good decisions. But it was a fight- a drain on the energy. Now as a senior leader, Ms Lakshmi is trying to ensure that women don't have to go through this struggle.
Mentorship
Mentorship is important. Ms Lakshmi has made important contributions in this regard. She explained the work she did as a chairwoman, both for the State and for the Southern region for the CII Indian Women Network (CII IWiN). There were 4 pillars: leadership, mentorship, health and well-being and policy and advocacy.
The mentorship initiative was a huge success. One reason is that CII engaged the mentors from different companies along with the mentees of the companies, which are members of the IWiN. Many companies do have their own mentorship programs. But women feel safer with an external mentor. With an internal mentor, there is always an apprehension as to whether something can go against them. They need to be careful about how much they should open up and what they should say.
CII IWiN’s initiatives across the Southern States were a huge success. And there were many beautiful success stories. Women came forward and explained how it really helped them to get into the next level, and how it developed their confidence.
Lessons from Infinity Vizag
Ms Lakshmi is the president for iTAAP (IT Association of Andhra Pradesh). Recently iTAAP started a flagship conclave called Infinity Vizag. They held the event in 2023. The event in 2024 somehow didn’t work out. During her presidentship Ms Lakshmi was very keen to do a big event like this, out of a sense of achievement and also to gain visibility. But she had to postpone it because there were hurdles. The organizers wanted some government officials to come during the inaugural. Ultimately, it got postponed for 9 months or so. Finally, they held the event in 2025, a couple of weeks back.
Sadly, there was little support from the Council members of iTAAP. They kept reminding Ms Lakshmi that she had so many responsibilities as a woman. Why did she want to take up one more responsibility? Most people would not come into the calls. Some people said they didn't have enough time to support the event. Others said they were traveling. Meanwhile, the immediate past President had started a foundation. He was doing something on the same lines called AI Summit. So, some council members said: Why do you want to do this so close to the AI Summit, or why don't you combine your event with that event?
Ms Lakshmi took it up as a challenge. It was tough. There was so much to do: arranging the speakers, their logistics, etc. But she was very lucky. She had the full support of her executive assistant. Then there was a person from the office of the President designate. So, they really helped.
It was great learning and an exhilarating experience. And it was a big success. There were about 300 people. There were great speakers from Hyderabad, from Google, Microsoft, KPMG, etc. and a speaker on quantum computing.
The kind of confidence which comes when women deal with challenges successfully is amazing. It creates a ripple effect, for people around, especially the women. A lot of people praised Ms Lakshmi and said, “My God, that is fantastic! You really managed well.”
Enabling women
Women want to prove that they can do it. They want to showcase themselves and demonstrate that they are no less capable than the men around them.
So, what does this mean? Clearly, creating diversity policies that are not inclusive is of little use. If a woman is sitting at the table, and is not being heard, the problems is not with the women but with the system.
It is about changing the culture and providing a conducive environment in which women can do well. We must remove the unconscious bias. A lot of men don't even feel that they're being biased. So, creating that awareness is extremely important.
We must build mentorship and sponsorship programs, especially for early career women. Generally, when we talk about coaching, it is at senior levels. Yes, of course, it's helpful at that level also. But we must start at much lower levels and provide the foundation. We must help young women to reflect on the mistakes they make. We must enable them to interact effectively with peers.
We must offer flexibility to women at critical stages of their life. The benefits of providing flexibility to women far exceed the costs.
We must celebrate women publicly and give them recognition. That really makes women to aspire to go into the next level.
We also need to have diversity in hiring and promotions. We must encourage women in leadership. We must clear the pathways for the advancement. We must sponsor them and send them to conferences and for speaking engagements.
When there are internal job postings, we must encourage them to apply. Often women are hesitant. There's a saying that men who are 60 to 70% qualified, generally apply for a promotion. But women, even though they're 100% qualified, are still not very sure about it. So, this is where we need to nudge them a little.
And most importantly, we should actively encourage men to become allies. If men become allies, they will pull up women long with men. Then nothing can stop the company from being truly diverse and doing well in the marketplace.
Concluding remarks
Breaking the ceiling is not just about shattering the glass. It is about building ladders, bridges, elevators, so that women can quickly go up there and send it back quickly for the next person to come up. This way, women can rise swiftly into those senior leadership positions. True diversity is about creating a space where every woman feels she belongs there without having to fight for it.
Is it enough for us to help our women to climb the ladder? Or should we be changing the building so that everyone has a level playing field? That is true diversity. Where everyone, irrespective of gender, has an equal shot at leadership, creativity, and success.
Q&A
Women are very capable. It’s just that they can't make their voice heard. The reason we see fewer women at senior leadership levels is that they tend to drop off especially during the middle management. Of course, there are a few women who have a good support structure, but many do not.
Maybe after another 5 to 10 years, we may not have this issue. The Gen Z who are now entering the workforce are very aspirational about going up the ladder. They make it clear what they want. But the millennials have been pushed down because of society and their maternal instinct which keeps them ready to make sacrifices.
Many public companies say it is a must to have women directors. But are they really being inclusive? Is it just on paper?
Yes, there are some women who can articulate themselves and have succeeded. But still, we don't have so many women at a CXO level. We should convey to women that it is important not to give up their careers. They can take a break when it is unavoidable, but they should not completely give up. A career provides self-esteem for women within society and at home. Ms Lakshmi’s own daughter really looks up to her. If women take too long a break they may find it difficult to come back.
The management at companies must promote diverse leadership and make it inclusive. Only then more people from lower levels, who are aspiring, will want to come up. If they see it as a big struggle, it will become a deterrent. Diversity is possible only when there is inclusion.
How do we help women to move into senior leadership roles as part of succession planning? There is something holding them back. Women are vulnerable to the impostor syndrome. They need coaching and mentoring. A few women at the top can help. If there are only men at the top, it will be a challenge.
Today, there are a few exceptional women at the top. They have made it on their own. Let us hope they can build the elevators for other women to climb up.
Sponsorship is also important. Women should attend conferences and get the required exposure. Expectations from women are also high. They need to upskill and reskill themselves regularly.
The pandemic was a major boon for the women. Remote working hardly existed earlier in the country, though it was common in the US. During the pandemic, women could save commuting time, work from home and take care of their children. Of course, their responsibilities also increased. They had to take care of both home and office. But overall, it had a positive impact for women. In Patra, the pandemic helped more women to move into middle and senior level positions.
We need more inclusive policies. It starts with hiring. Sensitive questions should be avoided during interviews: When are you planning to get married? Are you planning to have children? We must teach women negotiation skills which are useful even at home. At Patra, there is a women empowerment cell.
HR must be trained to formulate inclusive policies. Many HR people are worried about women going away on maternity leave. But even women who go on maternity leave want to return at the earliest to the workforce. Coaching and mentoring can ensure that women do not drop out of the workforce. Good leaders can make a big difference here.
Culture is critical. Culture eats strategy for breakfast. If leaders do not believe in an inclusive culture and lack empathy for women, policies will not make a difference. Just having a woman on the board will not help much. During meetings, women and men sitting separately is a sign that things are not going in the right direction. Growing acceptance of allyship is an encouraging sign. If leaders set an example, it would be great. Others will follow them.
Why did Patra choose to be located in Vizag? When Patra was being set up in 2005, the founders realized Bangalore was saturated. Hyderabad was being considered. But even in Hyderabad, attrition was increasing.
Ms Lakshmi suggested that they should look at Vizag seriously. Vizag was a Tier 3 city in 2005. Despite weak infrastructure, Vizag had potential. She convinced the leadership. Looking back, it was a great decision. There was very little attrition during the initial years. People were attracted by an American brand. Now there are over 5000 people.
There were challenges like the 2008 melt down when the company lost some clients. But overall, the company has done well.
Later, Patra tried to set up base in Bangalore. The top management thought it would look good if they had a sales office in Bangalore. But it did not click. Now they have operations in Warangal, Coimbatore and Raipur.
Pay equity is a huge issue. Women would feel very happy if they are paid on par with men.
Large companies may have Diversity Equity Inclusion cells. They may be doing such audits. But in small and medium companies, this is missing. Moreover, there are no government policies here.
People are giving up on women too quickly. Women are not being given a chance to learn. It is fine to say it is ok to fail. Women can learn that way. But do companies really practise this?