Sarin, Arun 1954–

International Directory of Business Biographies, (2005) by Joseph Santora

BUILDING SENIOR EXECUTIVE LEVEL EXPERIENCE

Sarin had a unique opportunity to hone his executive talents at AirTouch Communications, one of the largest cellular companies in the world. His initial appointment was as vice president of human resources. In less than a year he was promoted to senior vice president of corporate strategy and development, a position that fit him exceedingly well. His responsibilities included working on corporate acquisitions, developing partnerships, and forming strategic alliances with other companies throughout the industry.

Sarin's dedication and commitment to AirTouch were demonstrated by the following incident: While celebrating his 40th birthday at a party, he received word that a major deal was brewing between corporate competitors that had serious implications for AirTouch's future existence. Despite being the honored guest, Sarin left the celebration to assess the problem and to try to influence its outcome. As a result of his direct intervention, the deal was compromised.

Hard work and company loyalty paid off well for Sarin. He continued moving up the corporate ladder very quickly. In less than a year as corporate vice president he was appointed president and chief executive officer of the company. Under his leadership at AirTouch, the company established cellular and paging businesses in more than a dozen countries. In 1997 Sarin was promoted to president and chief operating officer of AirTouch, a position he held for approximately two years.

In 1999 AirTouch and Vodafone, a large British wireless communications company, decided to join forces to create Vodafone-AirTouch, which produced greater financial and human resources and enabled the company to compete more effectively in the international wireless-communications marketplace. Sarin was named chief executive of the newly formed corporate entity, responsible for managing operations in the U.S.-Asia Pacific region and for some 20,000 employees. In order to expand services, Sarin, with his years of experience partnering with other companies, created a strategic alliance with InfoSpace, an Internet infrastructure company based in Bellevue, Washington, "to deliver wireless Internet services to mobile customers" who resided in some two dozen countries (Advisor.com, January 11, 2000).

Sir Christopher Gent, the fairly young CEO of Vodafone, had always expressed the greatest respect for Sarin's financial abilities and managerial and leadership skills. He understood Sarin's value to the newly formed company and wanted Sarin to continue to his employment. Sarin wanted to add the position of chief operating officer (COO) to his corporate resume as a step toward becoming the CEO of Vodafone one day, but Gent decided that there was no pressing need to create the position of COO at the company. Faced with this decision and the fact that the youthful Gent would likely remain CEO for many years, Sarin concluded that his path to top was blocked, and he was unwilling to take a lesser role in the company's hierarchy. On April 15, 2000, Sarin resigned from Vodafone-AirTouch and took the CEO position at InfoSpace. Hedging his bets, Gent then offered Sarin a nonsalaried position as a member of the board of directors at Vodafone-AirTouch, a position that Sarin willingly accepted.