Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda, better known as Dr Sam Pitroda, is an inventor, entrepreneur and policymaker. He is widely regarded as a key figure responsible for India's communications revolution. He holds around 100 key technology patents, has been involved in several start ups and lectures extensively around the world. His biography Sam Pitroda: A Biography was a bestseller on the The Economic Times list for five weeks soon after it was released.

A widely traveled man, Pitroda is a sought after speaker at top international events. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan award in 2009 by the Government of India for his contribution to Science and Engineering. Pitroda also received the Rajiv Gandhi "Global Indian" award in 2009.

Sam Pitroda was born in Titilagarh, Orissa. His parents hailed from Gujarat and migrated to Orissa. They were influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and his philosophy and Pitroda was sent to Gujarat to imbibe Gandhian philosophy. He completed his schooling from Vallabh Vidyanagar in Gujarat and completed his Masters in Physics and Electronics from Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara. He went to the US and did his Masters in Electrical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.

He is also the founder & CEO of C-SAM, Inc, headquartered in Chicago with offices in London, Tokyo, Mumbai and Vadodara. C-SAM's development centers in India focus on innovation, customization and cost effective deployment for its customers. He has also served as an advisor to the United Nations.

As technology advisor to the Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, in the 1980s, Pitroda is regarded as having heralded the telecom revolution in India and also made a strong case for using technology for the benefit and betterment of society.

In 1983, Pitroda designed a computer-themed card game called Compucards which attracted a lot of attention. In 1987 during his tenure as advisor to Rajiv Gandhi, Pitroda headed several technology missions related to telecommunications, water, literacy, immunization, dairy and oilseeds. He is also the founder and first chairman of India's Telecom Commission. Through the 1990s Pitroda explored the world of mobile phone transaction technology and telecom developments in emerging markets.

He is the brain behind the ubiquitous, yellow-signed Public Call Offices that brought cheap and easy domestic and international public telephones across the country.

Pitroda has also served as Chairman of the National Knowledge Commission (2005-2008), an advisory body to the Prime Minister of India, set up to give policy recommendations for improving knowledge related institutions and infrastructure in the country.

Pitroda has won several awards including the Dataquest IT Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002 and the prestigious Canada India Foundation ("CIF") Chanchlani Global Indian Award (2008). He was felicitated on March 31, 2009, by Akhila Bharatiya Viswakarma Mahasabha for service to the viswakarma community. Pitroda has lived mainly in Chicago, Illinois since 1964 with his wife and two children. He divides his time between Chicago and Delhi.