Laxman Narasimhan, the newly appointed CEO of global coffee chain Starbucks, has risen to the top of an ever-expanding list of Indian-origin techies and businesspeople leading multinational global corporations.
Narasimhan, 55, will take over as CEO of beverage giant Starbucks on October 1 after stepping down as CEO of another global behemoth, Reckitt Benckiser. Narasimhan, a graduate of the University of Pune’s College of Engineering and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton business school, previously worked for PepsiCo. But Narasimhan is not the only one in charge of a global behemoth.
Here are the other Indian-origin CEOs who lead some of the world’s most powerful corporations
Leena Nair, CEO, Chanel
In January, Leena Nair became Chanel’s first female and youngest CEO. She began her career at Unilever as a management trainee in 1992. In 2016, she was appointed as the company’s first Asian and youngest Chief Human Resources Officer. She was also a member of the company’s Leadership Executive Committee. She has held various positions in the British government, including non-executive director for the department of business, energy, and industrial strategy. Leena Nair graduated from Walchand College of Engineering with a degree in engineering and management and from the Xavier School of Management with a degree in management.
Parag Agarwal, CEO, Twitter
After founder Jack Dorsey stepped down, Twitter named Parag Agrawal as its new CEO in November 2021. He previously served as the company’s Chief Technology Officer. He is the youngest CEO of a technology company on the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 list. He was born in Maharashtra and attended the Atomic Energy Central School in Mumbai. He attended Stanford University after receiving his B Tech degree from IIT, Mumbai in 2005.
Sandeep Kataria, CEO, Bata
Sandeep Kataria, former CEO of Bata India, was the first Indian to be appointed to the global role of a footwear company. Before becoming CEO of Bata India in 2017, he worked for some of the world’s most well-known companies, including Unilever, Vodafone, and Yum Brands. He has been directly involved in some of the world’s most successful businesses. Sandeep Kataria attended IIT-Delhi and XLRI-Jamshedpur. He was a gold medalist in the XLRI PGDBM batch of 1993.
Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google
Sundar Pichai was appointed CEO of Google in 2015. Prior to joining Google, he worked for McKinsey & Company as a management consultant and Applied Materials as an engineer. He began working as an engineer for Google in 2004. Because of the success of Chrome, he gained a large following. Pichai moved to the United States after graduating from IIT Kharagpur to pursue an MS in engineering and materials science at Stanford University. He then earned an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. He was both a Palmer and a Siebel Scholar.
Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft
Satya Nadella joined Microsoft as a young engineer in 1992 and rose through the ranks to become CEO in 2014. He oversaw the creation of the company’s various products, including the Windows and Xbox Live platforms. After becoming CEO, he reportedly implemented hackathons and worked to eliminate short-sightedness and bureaucracy. He failed the entrance exams for the Indian Institute of Technology on his first attempt. In 1988, he earned a B.Sc. in electronics and communication engineering. He went to the University of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for his education.
Shantanu Narayen, CEO, Adobe
Shantanu Narayen became the CEO of Adobe in December 2007. Before becoming the CEO of the company, he had been the president and chief operating officer of the company. Before Adobe, Shantanu worked with a Silicon Valley start-up called Measurex Automation Systems and Apple. He was born in Hyderabad and studied at Osmania University. After completing his degree, he enrolled for postgraduate studies at Bowling Green State University and the University of California.
Arvind Krishnan, CEO, IBM
Arvind Krishnan has been the CEO of IBM since April 2020. He became the company’s chairman in January 2021. Before becoming the CEO of IBM, he worked at the company’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center. In 2015, he was promoted to the Senior Vice President position, and he was responsible for the company’s various divisions, including the cloud and cognitive software. In 2016, he led the company’s acquisition of Red Hat. Krishnan got his BTech degree from IIT Kharagpur. He then went to the U.I. Urbana-Champaign and got a Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1991. He received alumni awards from both IIT
Kanpur and the University of Illinois.
