Indian CEOs now manage these leading Silicon Valley technology companies
Parag Agrawal's transition from the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Twitter to the microblogging platform's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is a landmark moment for the company. It also adds yet another name to the ever-growing list of Indian CEOs in Silicon Valley who have turned remarkable expertise into quantifiable results during their ongoing tenures. Here's a look at seven such Indian CEOs.
Why does it matter?
Agrawal's promotion to the role of CEO is a testament to the fact that brilliant minds lead big tech companies in Silicon Valley and around the world. It just so happens that many CEOs are of Indian origin. We believe these individuals could change the direction in which Big Tech companies innovate, and also inspire the youth in India to excel.
Twitter CEO Agrawal joined the company a decade ago
IIT-Bombay alumnus Agrawal Joined Twitter in 2011 and served as a software engineer until 2017 when he was promoted to CTO. He oversaw the development of key advancements in Twitter's use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve user experience. He is now tasked with getting Twitter to 315 million daily active monetizable users by 2023, consequently doubling the company's revenue.
From Watson development, Arvind Krishna ascended to becoming IBM's CEO
Another such exemplary Indian CEO is IBM's Arvind Krishna. The IIT-Kanpur graduate began his career with IBM in 1990 working on Watson Research, Database/Warehouse products, and Security/Tivoli Products. After ascending to the role of CEO in April 2020, Krishna also became the Chairman in 2021. Today, 15 patents and five honors in various domains of technology stand testament to his work in the industry.
Shantanu Narayen has led Adobe's business from strength to strength
Hyderabad-born Shantanu Narayen has been Adobe's CEO since 2007. After a brief stint at Apple, his journey with Adobe began in 1998 when he joined as Senior VP of worldwide product development. Earlier in 1996, he co-founded Pictra, a company credited with pioneering the concept of image sharing over the internet. He presently leads the development of Adobe's creative and digital document software franchises.
Palo Alto Networks' CEO Nikesh Arora is also an Indian
Nikesh Arora is the fourth Indian-origin CEO on our list. The IIT-BHU alumnus is the CEO and Chairman of Palo Alto Networks. Before this, he served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of SoftBank Corp., Chief Business Officer at Google, and Chief Marketing Officer at T-Mobile. After Arora joined Palo Alto Networks, the company made its biggest acquisition ever, followed by several others.
During his 18-year stint, Raghu Raghuram grew VMWare's core products
Raghu Raghuram has been with VMWare for 18 years and became the company's CEO in April this year. He had joined the company as the Director of Product Management in August 2003 following brief stints at Netscape and Bang Networks. An alumnus of IIT-Bombay, Raghuram oversaw the development of the cloud computing technology company's core products, including ESX and vSphere.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai is an IIT-Kharagpur graduate
Frequently mentioned in mainstream media, Alphabet Inc. CEO Sundar Pichai is also of Indian origin. The IIT-Kharagpur alumnus became Google's CEO in 2015. In 2019, he was promoted to his current role. Under his leadership, the company fended off antitrust lawsuits and developed path-breaking new smartphones like the Pixel 6. Pichai also contributed to the development of Google Toolbar and the Chrome browser.
Satya Nadella led Microsoft's Windows 11 development, cloud business growth
Lastly, it would be remiss to gloss over Hyderabad-born Satya Nadella's journey as Chairman and CEO of Microsoft since 2014. He joined the company in 1992 after a gig at Sun Microsystems. He led the company to develop Windows 11 after it had promised that Windows 10 would be the final iteration of the operating system. Nadella also led Microsoft's foray into cloud computing.
