Kalbadevi · Jamnagar · Dubai · Mumbai · 1967 to Now
My Story
Born in Mumbai. Raised in Jamnagar and Dubai. Came home to Mumbai. 35 years in technology. Still curious.
Born in Mumbai. Raised in Jamnagar and Dubai. Came home to Mumbai. 35 years in technology. Still curious.
With my mother, Laudina Iyengar. Dubai, 1970s.
I was born in Kalbadevi, South Mumbai, in 1967. Within a year the family moved to Jamnagar, Gujarat, where my father R.K. Swamy worked at the Digvijay Cement Company in Sikka. A small industrial town, a tight community, a different pace of life.
In 1968 we moved to Dubai. Not the Dubai of today — not the skyline, the malls, the Formula One. The old Dubai. A small, warm, multicultural city where Indians, Iranians, Israelis, and people from across the world lived as neighbours.
That upbringing shaped everything. You learn early that people are people — that connection crosses every boundary — when the kid next door speaks Farsi and the one across the street speaks Hebrew and you all play cricket together in the same dust.
My late father R.K. Swamy had one rule: never waste a summer vacation. Every break was a lesson. Typing. Computer programming — ₹1,000 for a course in 1984. Transistor assembly. TV repair. The message was never spoken aloud. It did not need to be.
“Curious by nature. Experienced by necessity. Building by choice.”
We moved back to Mumbai in 1981 — the city I was born in but barely knew. Andheri East. A different world from Dubai — louder, denser, more alive. I lost a year to the school calendar difference. Started again at St. John the Evangelist High School, Marol.
I became class minister. Debated. Acted. Found my voice. Then Bhavan’s College for BSc Science — where I met Nomita, who would become my partner in everything that followed. Was Class Representative for three years running. Met the late PM Shri Rajiv Gandhi at a Youth Congress meeting.
The summers continued. Each one a new skill. The father’s rule never wavered. By the time I finished college in 1989, I had been programming, building circuits, and repairing electronics for five years. I was ready before I knew what I was ready for.
My father R.K. Swamy and grandfather. Andheri East. The house where it all started.
Early 1990s, Mumbai. The first computer I built. This is where SAM7 began.
First job — General Electronics. Assembly and testing of PC XT and AT machines. One of the first engineers in India trained by Epson for dot matrix printers. Three months. Moved on.
Second job — Minafax Electronics. Clients: VSNL, TIFR, HUDCO, Corn Products. Travelled across India — Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Chennai, Kolkata. BE engineers were paid ₹800 a month. I drew ₹1,200. Not because I negotiated harder. Because I hit the ground running from day one, needing no training.
That moment taught me something I have never forgotten. The best engineers never got the best clients. The most clearly understood people did. In 1992, I started SAM7 — Systems & Services. One person. One desk. One idea.
SAM7 grew. 25 people at its peak. Two HP retail showrooms — Bandra and Andheri West. Clients: VSNL, TIFR, HUDCO, Corn Products, MSFC. We were not just selling boxes. We were building relationships. Solving problems. Being the people clients called first.
I was travelling internationally for technology sourcing by the late 1990s. Taiwan in 1998 — when the technology world was moving fast and the people who understood hardware had a genuine edge. I was one of them.
Then the HP-Compaq merger changed everything. The retail chapter closed. I took a 45-day role at Neoteric Infomatique — helped set up India’s first IT retail store at Inorbit Mall. Left after 45 days. Once an entrepreneur, it is difficult to work for others.
SAM7 pivoted to outsourced IT support for Mumbai-area SMBs. Survived the transition. Never stopped.
Taiwan, 1998. First visit. The world was moving fast and I was moving with it.
Rotary Multi District PETS 2015, Pune. Being trained as President Elect.
I joined Rotary in 1995. Rotary Club of Goregaon West. What followed was 30+ years of learning how trust, community, and genuine service actually work — not in theory, but in rooms full of people trying to do something real.
Twice elected President. First at Goregaon West, then at Rotary Club of Bombay Seacoast in 2015-16. Six times Secretary. The first ever Social Media Chair for Rotary District 3140 — built the district’s digital presence from scratch. Speaker on networking and Brand Rotary in District 3141. Principal Aide to the District Governor 2017-19.
Rotary took me to Kashmir for a service project at the Army Goodwill School. It took me to Pune for district training. It gave me a community that still defines how I think about what service means.
BNI came next. 8 years. Regional Director. Double Black Badge. Rs 8 crore+ in referrals generated for members. Co-founded BNI Creme and Fortune chapters. One of the first MSP Trainers for BNI in India — trained by Dr Ivan Misner himself. In 2015 I was invited to speak at the BNI AIM national conference in Delhi. Topic: Are You a Black Belt Networker?
In January 2012 I launched Jam with Sam — a talk show for achievers. 10 years. 100+ episodes. 200+ conversations with business owners, professionals, and changemakers. Every interview reinforced the same truth: the people who grow are the ones who can clearly articulate what they do.
TEDx invited me twice. TEDx Gateway Mumbai. Then TEDx Versova Mumbai. Both times the topic was the same — the power of networking. Some things are worth saying more than once.
TEDx Gateway, Mumbai. Speaking on the power of networking. Ideas worth spreading.
Saturday. Rotary DisCoN. Client needed a solution. Some things do not wait.
This photo was taken at a Rotary District Conference about ten years ago. It was a Saturday. A client needed a solution. The conference was happening around me. I sat under a tree and got it done.
This is not heroism. This is just how it works when you actually care. SAM7 was never just a business. It was a promise — that when something went wrong, someone who knew what they were doing would show up.
35 years later that instinct has not changed. The tools have. AI has replaced what used to take a week with what now takes an afternoon. But the knowing when to connect X to Y — the judgement, the relationship, the understanding of what a client actually needs? That is still human. That will always be human.
In 2025 I launched Neuralmaven Speakers Circle — a clarity and visibility platform for business owners and professionals who know their value but feel the market hasn’t fully seen it yet.
It is everything the last 35 years taught me about how people truly connect — combined with AI to make sure it reaches further than one room. Human intelligence amplified. Not replaced.
The Founding 100 is open now. If this story resonates — if you have been in your field long enough to know what you are doing but feel the world hasn’t quite caught up — Neuralmaven was built for you.
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