Business Leaders of the Year: Batra sets a high standard at Waters

Photo/Courtesy Waters Corp. Udit Batra, president and CEO of Waters Corp.

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By Sloane M. Perron

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All that stood in the way of an excited 8th grade Indian boy and his Atari game console was a broken transformer.

Batteries were expensive and out of the question, so he went to his school teacher for advice. The teacher offered to teach him electronics on the condition the student pass on his newfound knowledge to his peers. The boy learned how to fix his game, but more importantly the lessons sparked a passion for engineering and an appreciation for individuals which would stay with Udit Batra throughout his career, even as he became president and CEO of the Milford laboratory equipment manufacturer Waters Corp. in September 2020.

Udit Batra, WBJ Large Business Leader of the Year

“If you had a cup of coffee this morning, if you had any breakfast this morning, chances are you have experienced the benefit of our products. We make sure that the food that you eat, the water that you drink, the air that you breathe is clean, and that is what our instruments are designed to do,” Batra said.

Science is the driving force behind Waters’ innovation and product development. As an engineer, Batra values data-driven research; however, he is not afraid to take risks and encourages his team to think out of the box.

Batra’s risk-taking attitude is exemplified by Waters’ Desorption Electrospray Ionization swab. This prototype used special ionization technology to rapidly detect traces of the coronavirus in humans within 90 seconds. A strong team was formed, prototypes were created, and heavy monetary investments were made in the project. However, after many scientific experiments, it was determined that the project would not be viable. Rather than seeing the risk as a failure, Batra was proud of his team for their hard work and thorough research as they tried to solve a public health problem.

“Science has a way of humbling you, and the science did work, so what; and we celebrated that effort across the organization,” Batra said.

As the head of a manufacturing company with $2.7 billion in annual revenues, one might think Batra would be solely focused on the bottom line. However, he is admittedly a people person who appreciates diversity of thought, which is especially important since he leads 7,400 employees throughout 35 countries. Beginning his new role in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of Batra’s hardest personal challenges was meeting his new colleagues through a two-dimensional screen.

“We are so three dimensional. We say more with our body language than we do with our language, and you cannot easily understand what people are feeling if you are not in front of them; and that I miss and still miss,” he said.

However, Batra is now even more invigorated to get on a plane and meet face-to-face with the people who are part of his global team.

Batra’s accessibility has always been part of his leadership style, said his former colleague at MilliporeSigma, Angela Myers, who is the company’s head of gene editing and novel modalities. Prior to joining Waters, Batra served as CEO to MilliporeSigma, a $7.7-billion life sciences business in Burlington and a subsidiary of Merck KGaA of Germany.

“He sets high standards for his team, but he has a mischievous side so meetings with him aren’t just all business, but he puts a lot of emphasis on preparation and expects his team to always come prepared. He also cares about his team and places value on them as individual persons,” Myers said.

Whether he is talking to office workers, manufacturers, or executives, Batra always modulates his audience and shows genuine interest in their work. This is an aspect Myers personally experienced as her working relationship evolved with him. She first served as Batra’s chief of staff and then moved up into the new business initiative side of the company.

Described as intentional in his business decisions, Myers said Batra clearly lays out his goals, which translates into accessible and tangible team actions.

During his time at MilliporeSigma, Batra left a legacy of milestone accomplishments. However, for Myers, the most important lesson Batra left his colleagues with was perhaps the most simplest: the power of clear communication. As a leader, Batra reinforced boiling down heavily data-driven projects and presentations into three key main points, which were digestible for the group.

“It’s a very simple thing to ask for, but what that means is that it cascades through a very large organization which encourages people to think through what their key messages are and what actually matters here. The positive impact is immense, but people often overlook the value of thoughtful simplicity in communication,” she said.

2022 WBJ Business Leaders of the Year