Over the years, many Indians have proved their mettle as leaders. Migration of Indian scientists & engineers to the US has increased by 85% in the last 10 years, which contributed to the emergence of tech leaders. Recently, two industrial mammoths WeWork and IBM have appointed Indians as CEOs. Take a look at a few persons who hold or held top positions in global tech giant companies.
Sundar Pichai- CEO, Alphabet Inc
Joined Google in 2004, Sundar Pichai, a native of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, led the launch of Chrome and oversaw Google’s key apps like Gmail and Maps. Pichai became the CEO of Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google, in 2019.
Satya Nadella – CEO, Microsoft
Native of Hyderabad, Satya joined Microsoft two decades ago and went on to become its CEO. The electrical engineer played a key role in shifting Microsoft to cloud computing. Nadella was appointed as the CEO of Microsoft in 2014.
Arvind Krishna – CEO, IBM
Arvind is known as the principal architect of IBM’s cloud strategy. His expertise lies across software products, technology business and technology innovation. Arvind succeeded the long-term serving Ginni Rometty as the CEO of IBM in 2020.
Indra Nooyi – CEO, Pepsico
An alumna of IIM, this Chennai-born has been consistently listed by Forbes as the world’s 100 most powerful women. She joined PepsiCo in 1994. Nooyi was appointed as the CEO of the beverage giant in 2006. She served as the CEO of Pepsico for 12 years.
Rajeev Suri – CEO, Nokia
He is a CEO without a master’s degree. He joined Nokia in 1995 and was the CEO of Nokia Solutions and Networks earlier. Rajeev Suri became the CEO of Nokia in 2014.
Sandeep Mathrani – CEO, WeWork
An Indian-American real estate mogul, his first venture was in 1986. His stint as CEO of General Growth Properties, a mall in the US, earned him the reputation of turning around failing businesses.Mathrani took over as the CEO of WeWork from February 18, 2020.
Francisco D’Souza – CEO, Cognizant
One of the youngest CEOs in the IT sector, he joined Cognizant as a co-founder in 1994. He has around 25 years of experience in the IT industry. Francisco D’Souza served as the CEO of Cognizant from January 2007 to March 2019.
Shantanu Narayen – CEO, Adobe
He is one of the top paid tech CEOs across the globe. He is a man of great leadership qualities and technical insight. Card: From the COO of Adobe, Narayen was promoted as its CEO in 2007.
Ajaypal Singh Banga – CEO, Mastercard
An alumnus of IIM, Ahmedabad, the Government of India conferred him with Padma Shri in 2016. Ajaypal Singh Banga became Mastercard’s CEO in July 2010. In February 2015, then US President Barack Obama formally accepted him as a member of the President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.
