India, Dec. 29 -- Lou Gerstner, IBM CEO from 1993-2002, has died at 83. He kept IBM together, reset it around clients and services, and reshaped its culture.

Gerstner happens to be the first outsider (IBM had a long tradition of promoting CEOs from within its own ranks. Gerstner broke that pattern. He came in from outside the company and outside IBM's internal culture and career ladder after senior roles at places like McKinsey, American Express, and RJR Nabisco) to run the company at a time when its future looked genuinely uncertain. The industry was changing fast, IBM's business was under pressure, and there was serious debate about whether IBM should remain whole. Gerstner's tenure is now widely viewed as one of the most defining corp...