India has steadily become the world’s most significant IT hub in recent years. It looks to have reached a tipping point when Google announced a $10 billion investment to offer internet access to India’s 1.35 billion residents within the next five to seven years.
Google’s India Digitization Fund will function “via a mix of equity investments, partnerships, and operational, infrastructural, and ecosystem investments,” according to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who is an Indian-American.
Since the coronavirus pandemic, tech behemoths and global corporations have been announcing enormous investments in India one after the other. Amazon was the first to pledge $1 billion in January, and others quickly followed. Apple’s iPhone component suppliers are reportedly planning to establish or grow factories in India. Microsoft has agreed to establish a campus employing 4,000 people in Uttar Pradesh in northern India.
Many Indian-origin technologists, who attended the country’s leading Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and other primary tech schools, now lead worldwide technology firms. For example, following Jack Dorsey’s resignation as CEO of Twitter on November 29, 2021, Indian-American Parag Agrawal was named the microblogging platform’s new CEO. In addition, several other major technology businesses are led by either Indian or of Indian heritage, and Agrawal is the most recent addition to the list.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, took to Twitter on Monday to appreciate Indian talent and express how much it helps the United States. “USA benefits greatly from Indian talent,” he said. Musk replied to a tweet from Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, the world’s third-largest unicorn.
Here is a list of Indian-origin CEOs who are now leading big US IT firms:
- Parag Agrawal
Parag Agrawal becomes Twitter’s next chief executive officer (CEO), following Jack Dorsey’s resignation. In addition, Agarwal has joined the Twitter board of directors. He received his degree in computer science from Stanford University and his bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay).
- Sundar Pichai
Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, was born and raised in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu. Pichai has a B. Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, an MS in Engineering and Materials Science from Stanford University, and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. Pichai has been Google’s CEO since 2015.
- Satya Nadella
Since 2014, Satya Nadella has served as Microsoft’s CEO. He was Microsoft’s third CEO, following Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, who have been with the corporation since 1992.
Nadella was raised in Hyderabad, Telangana, and earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Karnataka’s Manipal Institute of Technology and an MS in computer science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Nadella later earned his MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
- Nikesh Arora
Nikesh Arora has been the CEO of Palo Alto Networks since 2018. He has worked as SoftBank Corp.’s vice chairman and CEO of SoftBank Internet and Media, Inc. Arora has previously worked for Google and SoftBank.
Arora holds a bachelor’s degree from Banaras Hindu University’s Institute of Technology, an MBA from Northeastern University, and an MSc. from Boston College.
- Jayshree Ullal
Jayshree Ullal, a billionaire entrepreneur, is the president and CEO of Arista Networks, a cloud networking behemoth. Forbes magazine named her one of the top five “most influential persons” in networking.
Since 2008, Ullal has served as CEO. Previously, the executive worked at AMD, Cisco, and Fairchild Semiconductor. Ullal earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from San Francisco State University and a master’s degree in engineering management from Santa Clara University.
- Anjali Sud
Anjali Sud, born in the United States, is the CEO of Vimeo, an online video platform. Flex’s CEO is Revathi Advaithi, named to Fortune’s list of the “Most Powerful Women” in 2019 and 2020. Sud had worked with the firm since 2014 when she was appointed Head of Global Marketing.
Sud earned a BSc in Finance and Management from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2011.
