He knows the gates are wide open. All customers have faith in Bill Gates and his creation Microsoft. Yet it's a challenging task to always remain at the top. "India's unbeatable developer strength has ensured that we are in the top slot for Microsoft globally," he once said in an interview. Given that India is known for its supremacy in computer software, it is no surprise that the world's No. 1 software company, Microsoft, chose an Indian as Senior Director in the Windows client emerging market group. Kaul became the Managing Director of Microsoft India when he was just 31, at an age when most of his peers were in middle management positions.

Holder of a master's degree in business administration with a specialisation in marketing and finance from XLRI and a bachelor's degree in engineering (computer science) from the Birla Institute of Technology, Rajiv Kaul is legendary in the infotech industry in India. He worked with ITC and Tata Consultancy Services before joining Microsoft in 1996. In Microsoft, Kaul was responsible for building Microsoft's business in the West Region. He then became Director, Marketing and E-commerce, and was instrumental in spearheading the company's marketing and partner initiatives, with an increased focus on the academic and developer communities. He also gained a reputation for helping expand and deepen Microsoft's relationships with its channel and partners. He always demands excellence and hence remains very involved with his team, whether it is a three member team or a 300-member team. It was this attitude that made him the CEO of Microsoft India in 2003.

For Kaul, leadership, at the end of the day, boils down to taking the right decision at the right time. A leader needs to set the direction, get buy-in from the team, and then align the company to achieve the goals. Helping set the balance between short-term and long-term goals, between achieving day-to-day numbers and teamwork is also important. Kaul became specially known in India for implementing key Microsoft projects like Shiksha and Bhasha. He also played a critical role in delivering Microsoft's NET vision for the Indian market. Kaul still believes in Microsoft's potential in India to the core. In his last assignment at Microsoft, Rajiv was at the software giant’s Redmond headquarters leading the emerging markets group. After fortifying Microsoft’s position in India, he moved into Actis, a leading private equity investor in emerging markets, as the new Partner. Kaul looks forward to using his skills and knowledge in each of the regions that Actis operates and Actis is more than proud to have Kaul in their team.