12 Indian-Origin CEOs Who Are Heading the World's Biggest Companies

It's time for India to take over the world and rule on a global platform. Lately, a bunch of Indian-origin individuals have assumed a top-ranking position in the world's largest (and most prestigious) firms—Twitter's CEO Parag Agrawal and Chanel's CEO Leena Nair being the most recent. The country's brilliant minds have transcended what we know as 'basic intelligence', making history in the superpower nations across the globe. 

While many of them may not reside in India, they certainly represent the people, breaking age-old stereotypes about our land being just one of snake charmers. Below, we've listed a few such Chief Executive Officers of Indian origin that deserve a shoutout. 

 

Parag Agrawal, Twitter CEO 

 

Just a couple of weeks ago, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey stepped down from his position as the Chief Executive Officer, passing the baton onto the Chief Technology Officer, Parag Agrawal, a 37-year-old Indian-origin man who graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology in 2005. Born in 1984, Parag completed his bachelor’s begree in computer science and engineering from IIT, Bombay, and pursued a doctorate in computer science from Stanford University. Before joining Twitter, Parag Agrawal was involved with large-scale data management at Microsoft Research, Yahoo! Research, and AT&T Labs.

 

Leena Nair, Chanel CEO

 

Just two days ago, Leena Nair stepped down from the position of Chief Human Resources Officer at Unilever to pursue a career at the French luxury fashion house, Chanel. She joined Hindustan Unilever Ltd. in 1992 after obtaining a gold medal from the Xavier School of Management in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. She has won numerous accolades during her career, including the 'Global Indian of the Year; award, the 'Role Model of Year' award, and has been featured on Fortune India's Most Powerful Women's List of 2021 as well. 

 

Sundar Pichai, Google CEO

 

Pichai Sundararajan, the Indian-American business executive, is the CEO of Alphabet Inc and its subsidiary Google. Born in Madras, India, he earned his degree from IIT Kharagpur in metallurgical engineering. He then moved to the United States where he attained a masters degree from Stanford University in materials science and engineering. He further went on to complete an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. 

 

Arvind Krishna, IBM Group CEO

 

Another Indian-American business executive, Arvind Krishna is the chairman and CEO of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). He began his career at IBM in 1990 and was the principal architect of Red Hat, the largest acquisition in the company’s history. Arvind was born into a Telugu-speaking family in Andhra Pradesh and acquired a BTech degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, in 1985. He subsequently moved to the United States to earn a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1991. 

 

Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO

 

The Telangana-born Indian-American executive is the executive chairman and CEO of Microsoft. Before becoming CEO, he was the executive vice president of Microsoft's cloud and enterprise group, responsible for building and running the company's computing platforms. He received a bachelor's in electrical engineering from the Manipal Institute of Technology in 1988. He then travelled to the U.S. to acquire an M.S. in computer science at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. 

 

Shantanu Narayen, Adobe Inc. CEO

 

Shantanu Narayen has been the chairman, president, and CEO of Adobe Inc. since December 2007. He grew up in Hyderabad, India, and earned a bachelor's degree in electronics and communication engineering from the University College of Engineering, Osmania University. Later, he moved to the United States to pursue a master's degree in computer science from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and an MBA from the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.

 

Indra Nooyi, Former PepsiCo Inc. CEO

 

While she no longer heads the multinational food, snack and beverage corporation, Indra held her position as CEO of PepsiCo for 12 years before stepping down in 2018. She recently published a memoir, "My Life in Full," and also serves on the boards of Amazon and the International Cricket Council. Philips has proposed that she join their board in May 2021. Indra Nooyi was born in Madras, Tamil Nadu, and studied at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, and Yale School of Management, USA.

 

Ajaypal Singh Banga, Former Mastercard CEO

 

Ajaypal Singh Banga was the President and CEO of Mastercard from July 2010 until December 31, 2020—he now serves as the executive chairman of the company. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and International Business Council of the World Economic Forum. Born in Pune, Maharashtra, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Economics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi University, followed by a PGP in Management from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad.

 

Nikesh Arora, Palo Alto Networks CEO

 

Nikesh Arora is the chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks, an American multinational cybersecurity company. Previously, he was a senior executive at Google and also served as the president of SoftBank Group from 2014 to 2016. He graduated with an electrical engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, BHU in Varanasi, and pursued an MBA from Northeastern University. 

 

Rajeev Suri, Former Nokia Inc. CEO

 

The Singaporean business executive is now the CEO of Inmarsat, a British satellite telecommunications company. Until 31 July 2021, he was the CEO of the Nokia Corporation. Rajeev was born in New Delhi, India, and was raised in Kuwait. He has attained a bachelor's degree in engineering—electronics and communications—from the Manipal Institute of Technology. 

 

Jayshree Ullal, Arista Networks CEO

 

The London-born, Delhi-raised American billionaire businesswoman is the president and CEO of Arista Networks, a cloud networking company. She graduated with a B.S. in engineering (electrical) from San Francisco State University and received a master's degree in engineering management from Santa Clara University. 

 

Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron Technology CEO

 

The Indian American business executive is the CEO of Micron Technology and was the co-founder of SanDisk, where he served as president and CEO until its acquisition by Western Digital in 2016. He was born in Kanpur, India, and earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. He graduated in 2009 from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Executive Education Program.