The technology sector has been the biggest platform for Indians to showcase their talent and capabilities. Good education, technical expertise, ability to work in difficult situations and managerial skills are helping Indians achieve great strides in the global arena. The list of India-origin executives heading global corporations is growing every year. Take a look at the Indians who head top IT companies….
1. Satya Nadella – CEO of Microsoft
One of the biggest success story of an Indian in the technology space comes from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. After working for two decades, Nadella made history by being the first Indian to head the world’s biggest software company.
The highest paid executive in the United States, Nadella himself admitted that heading Microsoft was ‘beyond his dreams’.
2. Sanjay Kumar Jha – CEO of Global Foundries
Sanjay Kumar Jha who hails from Bihar is now the CEO of Global Foundries, the world’s first full-service semiconductor foundry. He was appointed CEO of GLOBALFOUNDRIES in January 2014.
One of the highest-paid Indian executives in the US, he was earlier the chief executive officer of Motorola’s mobile devices business.
3. Indra Nooyi – Chairperson & CEO of PepsiCo
Chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi was born in Chennai. An alumnus of IIM Calcutta, she joined PepsiCo in 1994. In 2013, Ms Nooyi was ranked 10th in the list of Forbes World’s 100 most powerful women.
In her leadership, Nooyi has directed the company’s global strategy for more than a decade and led PepsiCo’s restructuring, including the 1997 divestiture of its restaurants into Tricon, now known as Yum! Brands.
4. Shantanu Narayen – CEO of Adobe
Shantanu Narayen who’s from Hyderabad heads one of the world’s leading software companies, Adobe. Nine years after joining Adobe, Narayen was appointed as CEO in 2007.
One of world’s top paid tech CEOs, he is lauded for his leadership qualities, technology insight and operational proficiency, which helped Adobe expand its products portfolio.
Narayen holds an electronics engineering degree from Osmania University, MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and Masters in computer science from Bowling Green State University, Ohio.
5. Ajaypal Singh Banga – President & CEO of MasterCard
Ajay Banga is the chief executive officer of MasterCard, an American financial services corporation that process payments between the banks of merchants when purchases are made through the brand card. Banga was appointed CEO in July 2010.
Prior to joining MasterCard in August 2009, Banga served as Chief Executive Officer of Citigroups Asia Pacific region. He began his business career with Nestlé in 1981. Banga spent the next 13 years working in simple jobs spanning sales, marketing, and general management. He later joined PepsiCo and was involved in the launch of its international fast food franchises in India as the economy liberalized.
6. Lakshmi Mittal – Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal
He is the Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, world’s largest steel making company. The Indian Steel mogul is one of the most influential and powerful figures globally. His Kensington Palace Gardens residence was called ‘Taj Mittal’ for its grandeur and elegant design.
7. Harish Manwani – COO of Unilever
COO of Unilever and non-executive chairman of Hindustan Unilever, Harish Manwani, is a graduate from the Mumbai University. He was appointed as global COO of Unilever in 2011.
Unilever is the third largest consumer good multinational company behind P&G and Nestle. Harish is also the non-executive chairman of Hindustan Unilever and the Director of Whirlpool Corporation.
8. Nikesh Arora – CEO of SoftBank Internet and Media Inc
Nikesh Arora, one of Google’s most high profile employees quit last year to join as vice chairman of SoftBank Corp and CEO of SoftBank Internet and Media Inc. As CEO of SIMI, he is responsible for overseeing Internet, telecommunications, media and global investment activities.
Hailed for his financial and strategic acumen, Nikesh is also likely to be the successor to Softbank’s chairman and CEO, Masayoshi Son.
9. Francisco D’Souza – CEO of Cognizant
Indian-origin Francisco D’Souza is the chief executive officer of Cognizant. He was appointed CEO in January 2007 and is ranked among the youngest chief executive officers in the software services sector. Before joining Cognizant, D’Souza was employed as Product Manager at Pilot Software a company funded by Keyur Patel of Fuse Global.
With more than 20 years of experience in the information technology industry, oversees much of the operations and business development of the company, working closely with Cognizant clients who are using offshore resources to execute large software development and maintenance projects.
10. Rakesh Kapoor – CEO of Reckitt Benckiser
Rakesh Kapoor has been CEO of Reckitt Benckiser Plc since September 2011 He is an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur, and has a chemical engineering degree from BITS Pilani.
Rakesh Kapoor joined Reckitt Benckiser in 1987 and he became the CEO of the British multinational company in 2011. The consumer goods giant is listed on London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
11. Nitin Paranjpe – Global President of the Home Care Business of Unilever
From the post of MD and CEO of Hindustan Lever, Nitin was moved to higher rank of globally representing Home Care Business of Unilever. With his promotion, Sanjiv Mehta took over as CEO of Hindustan Lever.
12. Atul Singh – Group President of Asia of Coca Cola
Atul Singh is Group President, Asia Pacific, The Coca-Cola Company since November 2013. He is heading Coca-Cola’s operations in 10 of the 38 Asia Pacific countries. He was elevated from the post of deputy president of the Pacific group. He is responsible for the operations in India, Greater China, Southwest Asia and Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
13. Piyush Gupta – CEO of DBS Group Holdings and DBS Bank
CEO at DBS Group Holdings and DBS Bank, Piyush Gupta, is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad. Prior to joining DBS, Piyush was Citigroup’s chief executive officer for South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
14. Rajeev Vasudeva – CEO of Egon Zehnder
Rajeev Vasudeva is CEO of Zurich-based executive search firm Egon Zehnder. Mr.Vasudeva joined Egon Zehnder in 1995 when his consultancy Sachar Vasudeva & Associates merged with Egon Zehnder. Mr Vasudeva has a BA in economics from St Stephens College, Delhi, and an MBA from University of Michigan.
15. Sundar Pichai – CEO of Google
Sundar pichai is the new CEO of Google, Larry Page and Sergei Brin who is the co-founder’s of google announced on Tuesday a massive restructuring of the company.
A topper in Metallurgical Engineering, from IIT Kharagpur, Pichai has seen a meteoric rise in his career from holding significant posts in Google to becoming its CEO.
After joining Google in 2004, Pichai led the product management and innovation efforts for key products including Google Chrome and Chrome OS and Google Drive.