Indians are known for their strong educational backgrounds, proficiency in their chosen area of expertise, and innate ability to manage and lead large enterprises. No wonder why CEOs of Indian origin are currently leading many global organizations. In a recent media interaction, Eric Garcetti, U.S. Ambassador to India, said, ‘Can’t be CEO in America if not Indian.’ This statement highlights the trust leading organizations place on Indian talent.
While several organizations have appointed Indian CEOs to scale their business, let’s explore some of the biggest billion-dollar companies that have hired an Indian CEO.
Google & Alphabet
This American multinational conglomerate enjoys a global presence for its vast suite of digital products, such as the search engine, Google Maps, calendar, Google Playstore, etc. Sundar Pichai, an Indian-born American business executive, is currently leading it. Sundar Pichai started his career as a product manager in 2004 and went on to become Google’s CEO in 2015 and Alphabet’s CEO in 2019.
Microsoft
Microsoft is a leading vendor of sophisticated computer software with a prominent presence in 60+ countries. This tech giant appointed Satya Nadella, an Indian-American business executive, as its CEO in 2014. Satya Nadella joined this organization in 1992 as a young engineer and made his way up to the executive post of vice president of Microsoft Central in the year 2000, the senior vice president by 2007, and the president of the Server and Tools Division in 2011.
Chanel
Chanel is a famous luxury fashion brand headquartered in London. It was founded by Coco Chanel in Paris in 1910 and is known for its exquisite range of designer handbags, watches, glasses, perfumes, fine jewelry, and numerous other fashion products. Leena Nair, a British-Indian business executive, is currently leading Chanel. The brand appointed Leena Nair as the global chief executive in 2021 to lead and scale its business to new heights. Under her leadership, Chanel clocked revenue of $19.7 billion in 2023, which was 16% higher compared to 2022.
IBM
IBM is well-known for its phenomenal hardware and software products, such as storage systems, networking equipment, servers, computers, etc. It is one of the leading billion-dollar consulting companies in the IT sector. This American giant appointed Arvind Krishna, an Indian-American business executive, as its CEO in 2020. Arvind joined IBM in 1990 as an engineer and secured several promotions over the years before finally being appointed as the company’s CEO.
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems is among the world’s largest and most diversified software companies, with an impressive suite of digital products created to boost creative aspirations, productivity, and much more. Adobe Systems has been led by Shantanu Narayen, an Indian-American business executive, as their CEO since 2007.
Shantanu joined Adobe Systems in 1998 and continued to climb the corporate ladder with sheer dedication and hard work. Under his leadership, Adobe Systems has reported 10% year-over-year growth, with the revenue reaching $19.41 billion in 2023.
Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto Networks is a famous American multinational cybersecurity company. It is headquartered in California and offers diverse products and security solutions, such as advanced DNS security, Industrial OT security, software firewalls, cloud workload protection, etc., designed to enhance organizations’ security measures. Nikesh Arora, an Indian-American business executive, is leading the company. Nikesh is among the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the U.S. and was appointed the company’s CEO and chairman in 2018.
Zscaler
Zscaler is an American cloud security company headquartered in San Jose, California. It offers various AI-powered security and data protection services to businesses of all sizes, mainly medium and large enterprises. Zscaler was founded by Jay Chaudhry, an Indian-American technology entrepreneur, and has been growing under his leadership as CEO since 2008. Zscaler’s revenue has experienced a steady increase year after year, making it reach the billion-dollar club.
Arista Networks
Artista Networks is a famous American computer networking company that builds scalable, high-performance, ultra-low-latency networks for data centers and cloud computing environments. Jayshree Ullal, a British-American billionaire with remarkable career stints at Cisco Systems, Fairchild Semiconductor, and Advanced Micro Devices, has led the company as its president and CEO since 2008. Under her leadership, the company earned approximately $5.9 billion in 2023 alone.
Ogilvy
Oglivy is a British advertising agency headquartered in New York City. It offers exceptional advertising, PR, consulting, and relationship design services. The agency has worked with leading organizations worldwide, such as Unilever, Coca-Cola Company, Samsung, IBM, Nestle, etc. Devika Bulchandani is currently the global CEO of this advertising agency. Devika is the first Indian-origin person to hold this position and was appointed in 2022. The agency has been growing fast under Devika’s leadership, and the organization reported a peak revenue of $5.9 billion in 2023.
Flex
Flex (previously known as Flextronics) is an American company headquartered in Austin, Texas. This billion-dollar company is an industry leader in electronics manufacturing services. It offers complete solutions, from design to engineering and manufacturing, for organizations operating in the automotive, medical, defense, industrial, etc., industries. Flex is under the leadership of Revathi Advaithi, an Indian-born American executive. She was appointed the company’s CEO in 2019 and has contributed immensely to Flex’s growth.
Honeywell
Honeywell is a leading American multinational conglomerate that creates products to solve large enterprises’ most complex issues. It serves organizations in different industries, like healthcare, aerospace, life sciences, manufacturing, retail, etc. The company’s product range spans diverse categories, like building automation, industrial chemicals and materials, safety, research chemicals, adsorbents and catalysts, etc. Honeywell also manufactures commonly used home products, such as thermostats, security systems, portable heaters, etc. This billion-dollar company appointed Vimal Kapur, an Indian-American business executive, as its CEO in 2023.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
It is an American biopharmaceutical company that creates innovative medicines for people with serious diseases. This billion-dollar company focuses particularly on speciality markets. Vertex Pharmaceuticals is currently growing under the able leadership of Reshma Kewalramani, an Indian-born medical doctor, clinician, and researcher. Reshma joined Vertex Pharmaceuticals as a CMO in 2017 and later became the company’s CEO in 2020.
