MEET INDIAN-ORIGIN CEOs RULING THE TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY
TECH LEADERS
SUNDAR PICHAI, CEO, GOOGLE
India-born Sundar Pichai was named as Google CEO on August 10, 2015. The 44-yearold head of Google was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and pursued education at IIT Kharagpur (B Tech), Stanford (MS) and Wharton (MBA); at Wharton, he was named a Siebel Scholar and Palmer Scholar. He is responsible for the launch of the dominant Chrome web browser, and was previously the product head for Android, Chrome, Maps, and other popular Google products.
SATYA NADELLA, CEO, MICROSOFT
After a 22-year stint with Microsoft, Nadella was appointed as the chief executive officer of the company in February 2014. He previously held the position of executive vice president of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise group. He is the Hyderabad-born 47year-old has a BE from Manipal Institute of Technology, MS from University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
RAJEEV SURI, CEO AND PRESIDENT, NOKIA
Rajeev Suri joined Nokia in 1995 and held various positions before being appointed as president and CEO in April 2014. Suri's ascendancy to Nokias CEO position came after Microsoft acquired Nokia’s mobile phone business. Previously, he was the head of the company’s India services division. Like Satya Nadella, the Bhopal-born Suri also holds a B-Tech from Manipal Institute of Technology.
SHANTANU NARAYEN, CEO, ADOBE
Born in Hyderabad, Shantanu Narayen joined Adobe in 1998 as the senior vice president of worldwide product research and became the COO in 2005 and CEO in 2007. He holds a Bachelor in Science from Osmania University, an MBA from University of California, Berkley, and an MS from Bowling Green State University. Narayen held product development roles at Apple and Silicon Graphics before co-founding photo-sharing startup Pictra. A chance encounter between Adobe and Pictra led to Narayen joining Adobe, where rose swiftly through the product ranks. He was named among the world's best CEOs by Barron's Magazine in 2016.
FRANCISCO D’SOUZA, CEO, COGNIZANT
Among the youngest CEOs in the software services sector, D’Souza is Cognizant’s CEO and a member of the company’s board of directors. D’Souza joined Cognizant as a co-founder in 1994 and went on to become its CEO in the year 2007. During his tenure as CEO, Cognizant’s employee base has grown from 55,000 to over 230,000. Son of an Indian diplomat, D’Souza was born in Kenya. He holds a BBA from University of East Asia, Macau and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh; D’Souza also serves on the board of General Electric as an independent director.