When Jack Dorsey decided to step down as CEO of Twitter, a succession plan was already in place. Parag Agrawal, who until now was the social media giant’s chief technical officer, has been tapped by Twitter’s board to replace Dorsey. At 37, Agrawal is among the youngest CEOs of a multinational company. This incredible rise of Agrawal has brought into focus the presence of Indians or executives of Indian origin who have grown up and left a mark in large technology companies. So who else studied or grew up in India to lead big tech companies? There are several of them.
Irish billionaire entrepreneur Patrick Collison noted this success of Indians in the world of technology in a tweet on Monday, and Elon Musk, one of the most astute minds to innovate and manage companies like SpaceX and Tesla, agreed.
Naming companies run by Indians, Collison tweeted: “Wonderful to watch the incredible success of Indians in the tech world and a good reminder of the opportunity America offers immigrants.” To this, Musk responded by saying that the US benefits greatly from Indian talent.
Google, Microsoft, Adobe, IBM, Palo Alto Networks and now Twitter run by CEOs who grew up in India. Wonderful to watch the incredible success of Indians in the world of technology and a good reminder of the opportunity America offers immigrants. ???????????????? (Congratulations, @paraga!)
—Patrick Collison (@patrickc) November 29, 2021
The US benefits greatly from Indian talent!
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 29, 2021
Here are some others with Indian roots who lead big tech companies.
1) Sundar Pichai, Google
Pichai is the CEO of Alphabet, Google’s parent company. He became CEO of Alphabet in December 2019 after Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepped down from their executive posts. Pichai was born in Tamil Nadu and grew up in Chennai, studying at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur. Under Pichai’s leadership, Google has focused on developing AI-powered products and services.
2) Satya NadellaMicrosoft
Nadella is the chairman and CEO of Microsoft. He hails from Hyderabad and holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Mangalore University, a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago. He is an avid reader of Indian poetry and passionate about cricket.
3) Shantanu Narayen, Adobe
He is the Chairman, President and CEO of Adobe, one of the largest software companies in the world. A recipient of the Padma Shri, Narayen is also the Vice President of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering from Osmania University, Hyderabad, a Master of Science in Computer Science from Bowling Green State University, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
4) Arvind Krishna, IBM
He is the president and CEO of IBM. Arvind has a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Both colleges honored him with prestigious alumni awards.
5) Sharmistha Dubey, Phosphorus
Sharmistha Dubey is the CEO of Match Group, which owns popular online dating services including Tinder, Match.com, OkCupid, etc., since July 2020. She graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology and then went to the US to continue her studies. During her stint at Match, she has held many titles and roles, including the current one.
6) Nikesh Arora, Palo Alto Networks
Arora joined as President and CEO of Palo Alto Networks in June 2018. Prior to that, he served as President and CEO of SoftBank Group. He studied in India and holds a B.Tech. in electrical engineering from the Institute of Technology at Banaras Hindu University. He also holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Northeastern University and a Master’s in Finance from Boston College.
7) Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron Technologies
Mehrotra is President and CEO of Micron Technology, which he joined in May 2017. Prior to that, he led SanDisk Corporation from a startup in 1988 to its eventual sale in 2016. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.
8) George Kurian, NetApp
Kurian joined NetApp in 2011 and was named CEO in June 2015. Prior to joining NetApp, he was vice president and general manager of Cisco Systems. He holds a BS in electrical engineering from Princeton University and an MBA from Stanford University.