Your mindset shapes your story

As a television journalist who started her career with Star Television, my life revolved around deadlines, stories, and the search for clarity. Those years taught me to be endlessly curious, to listen, and to keep looking for the question behind the question. For a long time, I believed this would be my permanent home.


Life decided otherwise. A move to Bengaluru quite early in my career forced me to pause and ask what else I could do. I had no degree in technology and no experience in HR. What I did have was strength in branding. I loved storytelling and was genuinely fascinated by how brands live in people’s minds.


That’s how I found myself at Infosys, working on InStep: Infosys’ global internship programme. It brought students from top institutions into the heart of an Indian technology company, long before “global employer brand” became common language.


My brief was both simple and bold. InStep could not be just another summer internship. It had to feel like the start of a long relationship and stand among the best of its kind. We saw every intern as a potential brand ambassador, and getting into the programme was not easy. A rigorous selection brought top students who returned with a real India-based tech experience, which created a steady year-round campus presence worldwide. InStep went on to become a globally awarded internship and remains Vault’s No. 1 programme.


It became the first business-enabling process to be appraised at CMMI Level 5, featured in journals like Asahi Shimbun to New York Times, and turned into a case study in business schools like IIM Ahmedabad and London Business School.


For someone who had arrived with ‘no tech background’, it was a powerful lesson in what focused execution can achieve.
Those years also gave me one of my most important mentors. NR Narayana Murthy was my reviewer at the start of my Infosys journey, and I had the chance to work on his vision of a world-class internship programme. His clarity on values, simplicity in thought, and focus on doing the right thing deeply influenced how I think about work and leadership. One lesson that has stayed with me: strategy is only as good as its execution.


Since then, my career has moved through analyst relations, branding, and marketing. I have often stepped into roles where I did not look like the obvious choice. Each time, I relied on the same basics: learn fast, ask questions, stay curious, and lean on your strengths when entering the unknown.


Today, as CMO at Hexaware, I still think of myself first as that curious journalist. The backdrop has changed. I look at brand health, content performance, and the impact of campaigns on real outcomes. Instead of one internship programme, I work with teams across global brand, digital, content, and communications. This year alone, our team has won over 30 awards. It’s proof of what a committed team can do when vision, purpose, and execution line up.


If there’s one message I would share, it’s this: you do not need a straight-line career to build a meaningful one. Once you keep learning, stay open, take thoughtful risks, and show up even when it feels uncomfortable, the path begins to open. Industries and titles keep changing; the mindset you bring is what ultimately shapes your story.

-Nidhi Alexander is chief marketing officer at Hexaware Technologies