Indian expatriates heading corporate giants in the West

[prakash]

It could be either Satya Nadella of Microsoft or Sundar Pichai of Google.

http://www.slashgear.com/googles-su...tiations-for-microsoft-ceo-position-31315298/

Google's Senior Vice President of Chrome and Apps, Sundar Pichai, is the forerunner candidate for Microsoft's open CEO position, according to sources who spoke to SiliconANGLE. The source is said to be "close to the hiring team," and claims Microsoft is in active negotiations with Pichai, who is the preferred external candidate.

According to the sources, Pichai is in the "final stages of discussions with the hiring committee," and is said to trump Satya Nadella as the top choice, who was previously reported as a front-running candidate for the position by Bloomberg. No much else is know at the moment, though if it all pans out, official news could perhaps surface soon.

Sundar is currently Google's Senior Vice President of Chrome and Apps, and has been a big proponent behind the company's Android efforts. Both his experience and the high regard for his leadership are cited as reasons for his alleged job offers from competing companies and a hefty retention bonus Google is said to have paid him to stay with the company in the past.

Said Wikibon analyst Dave Vellante to SiliconANGLE, "Microsoft could really move the ball down the field with Sundar Pichai in creating a new open operating system model for cloud, mobile, and social. The market has been looking for a CEO who can balance the role of leading the enterprise transformation while keeping that consumer momentum with xBox and reboot mobile. Pichai is the total package of technology leadership and business acumen."

 

[Electron]

Good to see so many Indians taking leadership in all fields now. If he gets there, it should be a big motivation for young aspiring Indians.

 

[shakil]

*Indian American to be precise

 

[Ambi]

*Indian American to be precise

Both of them moved to US after graduating from India.

 

[FreeBird]

The chances and probability of MS getting bleak have slightly increased. This looks like a great news to Indians; however, historic data indicates that quite a few Indians were badly exposed in illegal and unlawful endeavors when they reached top level posts in the U.S., but yes there are definitely a few who have been successful. Congrats my fellow Indians.

 

[Ambi]

Not a great news but an inspirational one for many students in india

 

[Indiafan]

The chances and probability of MS getting bleak have slightly increased. .

Really? What historic data? From being senators to heading top companies like Pepsi and now probably Microsoft, most Indians have been success stories

 

[TM Riddle]

Good for him

 

[Down2Earth]

well there is a 1 in 6 chance

 

[Amir]

If this happens, Microsoft's domestic sales will probably be fantastic but they will struggle internationally.

 

[Electron]

If this happens, Microsoft's domestic sales will probably be fantastic but they will struggle internationally.

Haha...good one..

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

well there is a 1 in 6 chance

Yea exactly. They are more then 1.2 billions and beside these Indians are no use to India. If they stayed in India maybe they could help their own country.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Both of them moved to US after graduating from India.

Brain drain.

 

[ahamedirshad123]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Exclusive: Microsoft to announce appointment of Pete Carroll as new CEO on Monday.</p>— Charles Cooper (@coopeydoop) <a href="https://twitter.com/coopeydoop/statuses/430175450480906241">February 3, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Sherazkhalid]

Best luck to them, if they have proven their worth they should be in line for CEO.

 

[Eye_Done]

Really? What historic data? From being senators to heading top companies like Pepsi and now probably Microsoft, most Indians have been success stories

Rajat Gupta and Vikram Pandit.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertl...pandit-cost-citi-a-fortune-and-failed-upward/

Looks like Microsoft is sll set for doom. Satya will most likely give his family and friends jobs in Microsoft and bring cheap labor from India by committing visa frauds like all Indian IT companies do.

 

[Indiafan]

Rajat Gupta and Vikram Pandit.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertl...pandit-cost-citi-a-fortune-and-failed-upward/

Looks like Microsoft is sll set for doom. Satya will most likely give his family and friends jobs in Microsoft and bring cheap labor from India by committing visa frauds like all Indian IT companies do.

2 out of how many examples? The fact is that the number of Indian leaders is so large, 2-3 are not more than the number of average CEOs who fail in a normal distribution

And you really think companies like Microsoft and Pepsi cannot recognize talent and you know better?

 

[Indiafan]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Exclusive: Microsoft to announce appointment of Pete Carroll as new CEO on Monday.</p>— Charles Cooper (@coopeydoop) <a href="https://twitter.com/coopeydoop/statuses/430175450480906241">February 3, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Lol, if this happens @ the OP ulhaq

 

[endymion248]

Does the bamboo ceiling apply to pinhas only and not all asians?

 

[Nostalgic]

Microsoft's next CEO could be an Indian!

Does the bamboo ceiling apply to pinhas only and not all asians?

Bamboo ceilings are so 2005.

Flamed maple is the real deal.

 

[ahamedirshad123]

Indians are proud of NRIs in powerful positions.

 

[in_cutter]

Microsoft's next CEO could be an Indian!

Satya Nandello is the new CEO

 

[Indiafan]

So it was Satya

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2014/feb14/02-04newspr.aspx

 

[Wasim1]

Awesome news. India churns out international CEOs like their cricket academy cranks out trundlers.

 

[Sandeep]

An Indian and a Telugu!

 

[velu]

More and more people in Pakistan are expected to dump windows in favor of Mac

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[ahmedzee]

More and more people in Pakistan are expected to dump windows in favor of Mac

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Such a stupid post...as if you can get into their minds and know what they're gonna do??

Anyways, on topic...Congrats to Mr. Satya Nadella. Been following this man, and by all means deserves to become the CEO. I read that his division outperformed the competition.

 

[Saeed]

Congratulations to Satya Nandello, probably the first South Asian to be at such position. Hopefully many will be encouraged by this.

 

[Crazy_K]

well there is a 1 in 6 chance

Hardly
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/10/22/2816041/white-men-ceos/

 

[justarslan]

Congratulations to Hyderabadi.

 

[Indiafan]

Congratulations to Satya Nandello, probably the first South Asian to be at such position. Hopefully many will be encouraged by this.

Isn't Indra Nooyi the CEO of pepsi, an Indian too?

 

[LongHorn]

While Americans of Indian and Chinese origin are over represented in tech companies amongst general workers l, they are very under represented when it comes to CEO positions.

 

[Badsha]

Brain drain.

Just to inform you, India is undergoing reverse brain drain now. A lot are coming back.

Good for him, a person I know knows someone whose neighbor knows him. I am not joking.

 

[saadibaba]

I own some stock in Microsoft. Just for the sake of that, I wish well to the new CEO. Hopefully it won't turn out to be like Citibank after an Indian took over, even though the damage was really done before him.

 

[Haripotter]

It's in the news .. satya nadella is indeed the CEO of Microsoft now ..he is from Hyderabad

 

[Bhaijaan]

Glad to know some didn't say 'Microsoft who?'


anyway congrats to the man! making us proud.

 

[JAI- a Cricket fan]

Many of the Indian Ceos of global companies hold a degree in common, MBA from IIM (Indian Institute of Management)

 

[saeedhk]

Congrats to all the Indians here.

Indians are doing pretty good in the US.

 

[Marshland]

I purchased a Windows Phablet recently to replace my old iPhone.

Seem to be liking 8 so far.

 

[DW44]

I purchased a Windows Phablet recently to replace my old iPhone.

Seem to be liking 8 so far.

Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8? The latter has a terrible UI.

 

[Marshland]

Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8? The latter has a terrible UI.

Windows 8.1 on my Desktop and Phone 8 on my mobile. I'm no techno-head, so both seem alike to me lol.

 

[velu]

Such a stupid post...as if you can get into their minds and know what they're gonna do??

Anyways, on topic...Congrats to Mr. Satya Nadella. Been following this man, and by all means deserves to become the CEO. I read that his division outperformed the competition.

y so serious .. you missed a smiley

 

[velu]

microsoft is still surviving because of its old legacy ..


satya got some tough job in his hands now ..
steve balmer completely screwed MS in the last decade.. zune player , windows phones and the windows 8 are utter flops ..

hate desktop version of windows 8 and one fo the worst from them ( now upgraded to 8.1 ) ..

 

[Marshland]

I like Windows 8.

Why do you not like it, and what is your favoured alternative?

 

[justarslan]

Actually, Satya Nadella's selection as Microsoft CEO isn't great for Indians

By Arun Gupta
theguardian.com, Wednesday 5 February 2014 09.38 EST

Since then nuclear terror has been superseded by India's embrace of the free market and the digital revolution. It's created 65 billionaires, but the cost is being by the still majority agrarian population who are being pushed off ancestral land for factories, mines and dams. So when Indians glow like a proud parent at a new CEO or billionaire of their own, they are rejecting millions who suffer for that wealth. If Indians want their own to venerate, they should look to those like Roy who embody the best of their heritage, the thirst for universal ideals and justice.

In the United States, there's Kshama Sawant, the new city councilmember in Seattle, around the corner from Microsoft's home, who's reviving socialism in a country floundering in capitalism. Or Bhairavi Desai, the unlikely organizer of tens of thousands of New York City cabdrivers. Or immigrant-rights organizer Harsha Walia in Canada.

In fact, there is an astonishing number of South Asians in North America whose activism is inspired by the vast tableau of social justice struggles in their home countries and communities. They are working across cultures, languages and communities for a better world, and are far more deserving of their compatriots' attention than some head of a corporate behemoth.

Check this link for the full article: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/05/satya-nadella-microsoft-ceo-not-make-indians-proud

 

[justarslan]

Actually, Satya Nadella's selection as Microsoft CEO isn't great for Indians

By Arun Gupta
theguardian.com, Wednesday 5 February 2014 09.38 EST

Since then nuclear terror has been superseded by India's embrace of the free market and the digital revolution. It's created 65 billionaires, but the cost is being by the still majority agrarian population who are being pushed off ancestral land for factories, mines and dams. So when Indians glow like a proud parent at a new CEO or billionaire of their own, they are rejecting millions who suffer for that wealth. If Indians want their own to venerate, they should look to those like Roy who embody the best of their heritage, the thirst for universal ideals and justice.

In the United States, there's Kshama Sawant, the new city councilmember in Seattle, around the corner from Microsoft's home, who's reviving socialism in a country floundering in capitalism. Or Bhairavi Desai, the unlikely organizer of tens of thousands of New York City cabdrivers. Or immigrant-rights organizer Harsha Walia in Canada.

In fact, there is an astonishing number of South Asians in North America whose activism is inspired by the vast tableau of social justice struggles in their home countries and communities. They are working across cultures, languages and communities for a better world, and are far more deserving of their compatriots' attention than some head of a corporate behemoth.

Check this link for the full article: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/05/satya-nadella-microsoft-ceo-not-make-indians-proud

 

[velu]

Re: Microsoft's next CEO could be an Indian!

I like Windows 8.

Why do you not like it, and what is your favoured alternative?

There is no windows key
Also I prefer icons over widgets in PC..

I was using macbook with both leopard and windows XP..
Recently bought Sony VAIO with windows 8 which I feel is sort of inconvenience wen compared to mac

 

[adwords]

I like Windows 8.

Why do you not like it, and what is your favoured alternative?

No START button, old habits die hard - once you start your machine, the first instinct is to click the Start Button at the bottom left
It's difficult to find programs once they are installed
an example: just yesterday, i installed Editplus (text editor) and Jing (screen snapshot s/w) on my windows 8.1 machine, after installation i was struggling to find how to start those software (no shortcuts)
I use my computer for my business, i dont need Fancy widgets for accuweather etc - i need icons for my Programs/shortcuts etc

 

[endymion248]

I like Windows 8.

Why do you not like it, and what is your favoured alternative?

Windows 8 is awesome and I don't even own a tablet.

People say ''there is no start button'' but it doesn't take longer to close your computer. When you swipe right, you only have to press two buttons, same as Windows 7.
Swipe down and swipe left also save a lot of time compared to windows 7.

Similarly, the full screen apps work well with the double screen feature. Most of the time, I have my desktop+Viber or my desktop+Adobe touch when working. Or desktop+Youtube app. It works very well, multitasking is a lot easier. I also use Internet Explorer App when I am mainly reading (like PakPassion).

I like the option to have my desktop for more complex programs and chrome, while I use the apps when I have to do something fast like check the news or when I have to multitask (where it's almost like having two screens).

Also, I have always hated tablets. They seem like toys on which you can do nothing but simple tasks like games or browsing. I have never understood the point of a tablet for someone who owns a smartphone and a laptop. However, the Surface Pro is plain awesome, it's everything a tablet should be: a touch screen laptop with an amovible keyboard where you can download things and use programs, including photoshop and word office/excel. You can't do anything productive on others tablets. I think that it's with a Surface Pro (Surface just sucks) that Windows 8 true potential can be seen. Only downfall is that it doesn't have a lot of storage space because of Windows back-up which is a very bad choice. I think that is a business choice by Microsoft to force people into use either SkyDrive or go for the 200 GB version ala Apple.

No START button, old habits die hard - once you start your machine, the first instinct is to click the Start Button at the bottom left
It's difficult to find programs once they are installed
an example: just yesterday, i installed Editplus (text editor) and Jing (screen snapshot s/w) on my windows 8.1 machine, after installation i was struggling to find how to start those software (no shortcuts)
I use my computer for my business, i dont need Fancy widgets for accuweather etc - i need icons for my Programs/shortcuts etc

I had the same problem but swipe right, search, right click, install an icon on desktop solved the problem pretty fast. Also, you can get shortcuts for your programs by clicking the down arrow on the App menu.

 

[Indiafan]

Microsoft shares are at a record high, nearly $40. Looks like Microsoft is launching an Office suite for Apple ipads. Nadella has scheduled a press conference for 27th of this month. Some exciting moves from Microsoft

 

[Wasim1]

High MSFT shares doesnt surprise me. Companies usually do well when they hire an Indian CEO.

Only question now is whether Nokia is going to do the same thing and get an Indian CEO to help them turn things around.

 

[CricketCartoons]

Wonder why the Indian companies don't do well when they have Indian CEOs. Seems the magic of being Indian only works when hired by a foreign company.

 

[ahmedzee]

Wonder why the Indian companies don't do well when they have Indian CEOs. Seems the magic of being Indian only works when hired by a foreign company.

Mr. Nadella is an American with Indian ancestry.

 

[pal]

Mr. Nadella is an American with Indian ancestry.

Mr. Nadella was born in India, received his primary education in India, earned his university degree in India, and went to the US to pursue graduate studies.

 

[ahmedzee]

Mr. Nadella was born in India, received his primary education in India, earned his university degree in India, and went to the US to pursue graduate studies.

His profile says he is an American citizen.

 

[Badsha]

I own some stock in Microsoft. Just for the sake of that, I wish well to the new CEO. Hopefully it won't turn out to be like Citibank after an Indian took over, even though the damage was really done before him.

No offence to your stock skills Saadi but why on earth would someone buy a stock like Microsoft right now?

 

[Ismailtoca]

No offence to your stock skills Saadi but why on earth would someone buy a stock like Microsoft right now?

I am not following the MS stock, but why not?

 

[ahmedzee]

No offence to your stock skills Saadi but why on earth would someone buy a stock like Microsoft right now?

Why not buy Microsoft stock?
This is an interesting conversation actually....

 

[Badsha]

Why not buy Microsoft stock?
This is an interesting conversation actually....

I am not following the MS stock, but why not?

Microsofts time was in the late 90's. It is a stable stock now. Barely goes up.

 

[Eye_Done]

http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/17/technology/enterprise/microsoft-job-cuts/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

First sign of disintegration. How many of those jobs will be shipped back to his native India? What a disaster choice for a TOP position!! You dont eat the hands which fed you for so long

 

[Cochin_wala]

Whether the dependency on Windows OS coming down since the Android(Linux..) smartphones are gaining more?

 

[Sherazkhalid]

...

 

[Sherazkhalid]

http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/17/technology/enterprise/microsoft-job-cuts/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

First sign of disintegration. How many of those jobs will be shipped back to his native India? What a disaster choice for a TOP position!! You dont eat the hands which fed you for so long

Well that probably won't happen, he's bonus at the end of his tenure is based on the market and stock performance and nothing makes a stock go up on Wall Street than the news of lay offs, unless the whole company is laid off.

 

[CricketCartoons]

Whether the dependency on Windows OS coming down since the Android(Linux..) smartphones are gaining more?

Android is not linux.

 

[Cochin_wala]

Android is not linux.

Thank you. but, it is based on Linux kernel.

 

[Electron]

http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/17/technology/enterprise/microsoft-job-cuts/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

First sign of disintegration. How many of those jobs will be shipped back to his native India? What a disaster choice for a TOP position!! You dont eat the hands which fed you for so long

Don't let your inability to read and understand stuff lead you to wrong conclusions. From the link you shared -

"Most of the latest round of layoffs -- 12,500 -- will come from Nokia's devices and services business that Microsoft recently bought. In a memo to Microsoft's staff, Nadella said that Microsoft found many redundancies between the two companies, including both professional and factory workers."

 

[CricketCartoons]

Thank you. but, it is based on Linux kernel.

There is nothing like linux kernel. Linux is the kernel.

 

[Electron]

There is nothing like linux kernel. Linux is the kernel.

What makes Android NOT Linux? I would be interested to know that.

 

[Cochin_wala]

What makes Android NOT Linux? I would be interested to know that.

If Windows Mobile OS is NOT having anything with Windows OS, then Android has nothing to do with Linux also.

Btw, I am a Gnu/Linux user for almost 13 years(no Windows OS for personal computing). that will answer my hate for Microsoft.

 

[Varun]

I hate Android. Whenever I updated anything it used to crash. My old Sony Xperia didn't even let me pick up a call for 15 seconds at times.

Shifted to the Nokia Lumia 1320 in Jan this year (it released in India before anywhere else), and love it so far. The hardware is by Nokia (Microsoft) and the software Windows (also Microsoft) so everything is as smooth as butter.

Android is a software that appeals to the masses - the lowest common denominator. Quality, it doesn't guarantee.

 

[CricketCartoons]

Hating a software.

I love how people have wars over which is the better text editor, or the better IDE, or the better language.

There is so much to choose from. Pick the one you love and march on.

Personally, OS X is my favourite. Combines the best of windows and linux based systems.

 

[Electron]

If Windows Mobile OS is NOT having anything with Windows OS, then Android has nothing to do with Linux also.

Btw, I am a Gnu/Linux user for almost 13 years(no Windows OS for personal computing). that will answer my hate for Microsoft.

Don't know about Windows, but Android is nothing but an OS built on the top of a stripped down linux kernel, a bit like MeeGo or the upcoming Ubuntu mobile. So, its very much Linux in its core, the only difference I see is android using lighter libraries and code compiler for obvious hardware constraints.

I too have switched to Linux recently, but every now and then, I keep missing Windows.

 

[Cochin_wala]

Don't know about Windows, but Android is nothing but an OS built on the top of a stripped down linux kernel, a bit like MeeGo or the upcoming Ubuntu mobile. So, its very much Linux in its core, the only difference I see is android using lighter libraries and code compiler for obvious hardware constraints.

I too have switched to Linux recently, but every now and then, I keep missing Windows.

Well, I think Linux will be acceptable to only a minority who are technologically minded or want to experiment. so, no mass market capturing will be possible with Linux. if Microsoft like monopolist corporations have Linux in their hands(scenario without GPL) they would've made it successful which you cannot imagine with Open source, Free software and community volunteered way as it is now. I am using Linux from Redhat 7/Debian Woody days and those times many believed Linux will destroy Microsoft monopoly(Windows) and proprietary software model which it failed to break. Linux is best left for servers and enthusiasts. even with a friendly distro like Ubuntu or mint, Windows users will struggle to adjust to the new UI(user interface) and many cannot tolerate Linux when they understands small things like windows .msi or .exes are not meant for Linux and apt/yum and such package management methods will make average joe Windows user loss his/her patience.

Regarding Windows platform software on Linux, you may be already knowing Wine(Windows emulator), which can install many windows apps. however, codeweavers(proprietary) can help with MS Office and many other apps better.

http://makethemove.net

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

‘I kept all my rejection letters’: Rise of the Australian-Indian CEOs

A growing number of Australia’s top business leaders are of South Asian heritage. They tell BOSS about their ambitions to learn and their hunger for success.

Tarun Gupta is not surprised to see the rise in the number of Australian-Indian chief executives leading our largest companies given the determination and sacrifices most faced to climb to the top – and with a love of cricket bringing many of the soon-to-be CEOs to our shores.

The Stockland boss is one of a group of CEOs with Indian heritage recently appointed to lead top listed companies, including Orica chief Sanjeev Gandhi and Link CEO Vivek Bhatia, joining Pact CEO Sanjay Dayal and Newcrest boss Sandeep Biswas.

The trend is mirrored in the private sector, where former CEO of listed Cleanaway Vik Bansal now runs British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta’s structural steel group in Australia, InfraBuild.

Macquarie’s Sri Lankan CEO Shemara Wikramanayake is the other shining example of the rising influence of South Asia on Australia’s trade and commerce.

Former Victorian premier and chair of the Australian Heritage Council Ted Baillieu says it reflects the rise of India’s influence and strengthening relationship with Australia, recently reflected in a pledge from the Quad alliance to promote the Indo-Pacific region.

“The Indian diaspora here are well tuned to education and to commerce. You put the two together and inevitably the cream will rise to the top,” Baillieu tells BOSS.

Gupta, who came to Australia to study in the 1990s, says the migrants have been forged in a fire which gave them incredible resilience and adaptability.

He says he went from reading front page stories in India about the number of people blown up by terrorists to arriving in Newcastle where the front page article was about a wheelie bin being stolen.

“What’s fazing people here is completely different. People who grew up in India and came to a really safe and prosperous place like Australia have a different lens. It gives you a sense that if you think this is bad, it could be much worse,” the former Lendlease chief financial officer, now Stockland CEO Gupta tells BOSS.

“I ended up working as a tandoori chef, but I started as a kitchen hand. I didn’t have any skills and in 1992 Newcastle was in recession, so it was tough to get a job. I was down to my last $50,” he says.

Gupta’s father was a police officer who put all his wages into private school education for his three children. “We could see the struggle that was on them, so that instilled a work ethic,” he says.

“India makes you quite resilient and adaptable. Even if you have a good lifestyle, you see extreme poverty, extreme wealth and everything in between.

By the time I came to work here, I had lived in 10 cities, four universities and seven schools. When I started as a graduate, there was a difference. I could feel it and I think others could notice it.”

Australia is catching up on the trend witnessed in the United States where a host of US Fortune 500 companies are run by the Indian diaspora, including Microsoft’s Satyanarayana Nadella, Google’s Sundar Pichai, the former Pepsi Co CEO Indra Nooyi, Mastercard executive chairman Ajay Banga and former CEO of Citigroup, Vikram Pandit.

“The common qualities I see across the group is they are all very hard-working, they are very grounded and they don’t take things for granted. They know you have to put in 120 per cent and always be more prepared than the other person in the room,” Bhatia tells BOSS.

Bhatia also came to Australia in 1999 with barely any money. He scoured for jobs in sales and call centres before landing a position at KPMG.

That led to a job and promotion under Rob Scott at Wesfarmers, before becoming head of the NSW government’s workers’ compensation insurer icare – where he was grilled over failing to declare conflicts of interest as part of a parliamentary inquiry – before rising to become the local head of QBE Insurance. He describes the hunger for success, which he sees among his fellow migrants.

“I didn’t know anybody when I came to the country. I hadn’t studied here. I didn’t go to school or university here, I didn’t know a single person. I had no fallback plans. Sometimes that’s a good thing right?” the CEO of the listed share registry business tells BOSS.

“You know that you have come here to prove a point. You know you have sacrificed, staying away from your family and friends and if you have done that sacrifice, then you might as well make the most of it,” he says.

Bhatia also reflects on the role of cricket in bringing many Indians to Australia’s shores. Like the others, he cites his love of cricket and recalls watching Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket and the colourful pictures of Australian crowds being beamed into their homes as kids as a factor in bringing him to Australia’s shores.

Link CEO Bhatia says the rise in the number of Australian-Indian chiefs also reflects migration trends. Migration of Indians to Australia started in earnest in the 90s and it takes time for those migrants to climb the corporate ladder.

“If you reflect on the Fortune 500 companies, you see it happened in the US. Over the past 10 years there have been a lot more tech CEOs, but you are starting to see it in financial services and manufacturing too. It takes time for migrant communities to go through the cycles,” Bhatia says.

“We probably saw most of the migration happen here in the ’90s and 2000s, whereas in the US it was probably 20 years before that. You start to see people work through the ranks, and then you see the second generation, which is starting to happen in the US,” he says.

Like Gupta’s parents, Bhatia’s father fled Pakistan as a child in the 1947 Partition, the bloody colonial British policy that divided the two states along largely religious lines.

“[My father] always felt he went from a house that was reasonably well off to having absolutely nothing except the clothes he had on,” Bhatia says. “His mum, who never went to school, always wanted my dad to have the best of education and he instilled that in me, to make sure you never take anything for granted.”

InfraBuild CEO Vik Bansal also came to our “cricket loving nation” in the early 1990s to study. That came at a cost, he says, like being forced to recently miss his mother’s funeral due to the closed borders.

“I came as a young electrical engineer after the recession we had to have, with $1000 I borrowed from my mum and dad. I went to the YMCA on Elizabeth St [in Melbourne] and the place looked empty [compared to India],” Bansal says.

“I sold ads for a local newspaper, so started as a telemarketer but it was very tough ... until recently, I still kept all my rejection letters. I met a headhunter who gave me some frank advice to shorten my name to Vik. My first interview, the manager asked me what I wanted to do and I said: ‘I want to be the CEO’ and you could see the smile on his face.”

Bansal – who grew up just north of Delhi – says his father was a lawyer and his mother a teacher but “you grow in an environment of very high expectations” from a “very early age” and there is an unparalleled appetite for education.

“It’s a highly competitive environment. Every kid has that level of expectation,” he says. “To me work matters, work is not a chore for me, work becomes who you are.

“I’m still studying, I’m doing my Masters of Law. I’ll finish in December. I don’t know why I am doing this. The reason actually is because the governance piece is becoming such a big thing. I thought I may as well be good at it.”

Bansal resigned from Cleanaway in January in a “mutually agreed” decision with the board after allegations of a “culture of bullying and harassment” under his leadership.

“As part of a journey, you are learning every day. Invariably with the benefit of hindsight you say: ‘Gee, I could have done that differently’. I was there almost six years. It was the highest point of my career and to some extent the lowest. It hurts you as a human being, as a parent, as a leader [but] you have to learn and move on.”

Bansal says the rise of this group of Australian-India CEOs reflects “the common values and similarities between the two societies” but admits there have “for sure been clashes” in the culture too.

“It’s inevitable ... when you come from a highly competitive environment with high expectations,” he says. “The need to consistently prove yourself makes you drive harder.

“We all need to be highly self-aware of how our personal drive is coming across to others at different levels in an organisation,” he says. “My lessons in this area have been in the public domain, which is personally disappointing. But what’s most important is to learn, reflect, grow, stand-up, and move on.”

The migrant story is similar for many of the other top CEOs, but many have become highly mobile global executives – particularly across resources and manufacturing.

Orica CEO Sanjeev Gandhi took over from Alberto Calderon this year, after joining the explosives and chemicals group last year, after 26 years with German chemical giant BASF SE and working in India, Germany, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong.

CEO of listed packaging firm Pact Group, Sanjay Dayal spent a decade at Orica, before becoming the head of building products, corporate strategy and innovation at BlueScope for nine years and later hired by Rich Lister Raphael Geminder to rebuild confidence in the then ailing packaging group Pact.

Newcrest CEO Sandeep Biswas, who was born in West Bengal and spent the first seven years of his life in India, obtained a chemical engineering degree from Queensland University, which prompted Mt Isa Mines to offer him a job.

“When I grew up in Brisbane there weren’t too many Indians around back then,” he has said.

Baillieu tells BOSS the rise of Australian-Indian CEOs is “a great story” which he bullishly predicts will continue rapidly over the next 30 years.

“One in 25 Australians now has Indian heritage. India has been in our top 10 trading partners, but it will be up the top very soon in my view,” he says.

“India is number two in the population stakes now and in very short order India will be number one. By 2050, India will have an additional 350 million people, up to 1.7 billion plus, and that’s more than a dozen Australia’s.

China by 2050 goes backward 60 million people on the estimates, and they have an age demographic similar to Australia where the average age is about 37. In India, it’s 27. It’s 10 years younger and they are growing fast.

“Love Modi or not, he has introduced massive changes to modernise the banking system, the transport, education and health system, utilities. He’s even trying to modernise farming and that change is what I call India-inevitable. We are going to need them more than they need us.

In terms of the sphere of influence, it’s not the centre of the world yet but in 30 years time, it’s going to be bloody close.


https://www.afr.com/work-and-career...vek Bhatia, Vik,of the Australian-Indian CEOs

 

[Cover Drive Six]

IIT Bombay graduate Parag Agarwal appointed as new CEO of Twitter

Twitter’s founder Jack Dorsey has stepped down as the Chief Executive Officer, making way for an engineer from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, who went on to do his PhD from Stanford University.
After finishing his Bachelors in Computer Science, Agrawal completed his doctorate in philosophy, majoring in computer science, according to his Linkedin profile.
Parag Agrawal has been with Twitter for just over a decade now and joined as a software engineer. Before taking over as CEO, he was the chief technology officer at the social media firm worth over $37 billion. At Twitter, Agrawal was responsible for the company’s technical strategy, and oversaw machine learning and AI across the consumer, revenue and science teams.

Before joining Twitter, Agrawal had stints at Microsoft, Yahoo and AT&T in research roles. Dorsey described him as curious, probing, rational, creative, demanding, self-aware and humble.

“The world is watching us right now, even more than they have before. Lots of people are going to have lots of different views and opinions about today’s news,” Agrawal said in a note he shared on Twitter right after the announcement from Dorsey.

The share price of Twitter jumped up nearly 5% after Dorsey decided to step down as CEO. The stock has multiplied over 2.5 times since its listing in 2016 but the last year has been tough. Twitter’s shares had lost over 10% of their value at a time when the tech stocks were in a dizzying rally on Wall Street.
From Sundar Pichai at Google’s parent Alphabet and Satya Nadella at Microsoft to Arvind Krishna leading IBM and Shantanu Narayen at Adobe, Parag Agrawal will be the latest in a long list of Indian-origin CEOs leading some of the world’s top tech companies.

https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/meet-parag-agarwal-the-iit-bombay-grad-who-is-taking-over-from-jack-dorsey-at-twitter/articleshow/87989039.cms

 

[Cover Drive Six]

Twitter- Parag Agarwal
Google - Sundar Pichai
Microsoft - Satya Nadella
IBM - Arvind Krishna
Adobe- Shantanu Narayen
VMWare - Raghu Raghuram
So many CEOs of Indian origin in global tech!

 

[Cover Drive Six]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Deep gratitude for <a href="https://twitter.com/jack?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jack</a> and our entire team, and so much excitement for the future. Here’s the note I sent to the company. Thank you all for your trust and support &#55357;&#56473; <a href="https://t.co/eNatG1dqH6">https://t.co/eNatG1dqH6</a> <a href="https://t.co/liJmTbpYs1">pic.twitter.com/liJmTbpYs1</a></p>— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) <a href="https://twitter.com/paraga/status/1465349749607854083?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Cover Drive Six]

Who is Parag Agrawal?

Parag Agrawal joined Twitter in 2011 and has served as Chief Technology Officer or CTO since October 2017. According to the company statement, as CTO, Agrawal has been responsible for the company's technical strategy, leading work to improve development velocity while advancing the state of Machine Learning across the company.


"Prior to being appointed CTO, Parag had risen to be Twitter's first Distinguished Engineer due to his work across revenue and consumer engineering, including his impact on the re-acceleration of audience growth in 2016 and 2017," Twitter further stated.

Agrawal holds a PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University and a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.

Taking to Twitter, the new CEO expressed, "Deep gratitude for [MENTION=10327]Jack[/MENTION] and our entire team, and so much excitement for the future. Here’s the note I sent to the company. Thank you all for your trust and support &#55357;&#56473;."

"Team, most of all, I'm grateful for all of you, and it's you who inspire confidence in our future together. I joined this company 10 years ago when there were fewer than 1,000 employees. While it was a decade ago, those days feel like yesterday to me. I've walked in your shoes, I've seen the ups and downs, the challenges and obstacles, the wins and the mistakes. But then and now, above all else, I see Twitter's incredible impact, our continued progress, and the exciting opportunities ahead of us," Agrawal said in a letter to the Twitter team and Dorsey.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Twitter- Parag Agarwal
Google - Sundar Pichai
Microsoft - Satya Nadella
IBM - Arvind Krishna
Adobe- Shantanu Narayen
VMWare - Raghu Raghuram
So many CEOs of Indian origin in global tech!

Incredible achievements. These are the biggest and most well known tech companies in the world. It is no mean feat for a person to scale these heights and get to the top in these environments.

 

[Ahmad-GERMANFC]

Twitter- Parag Agarwal
Google - Sundar Pichai
Microsoft - Satya Nadella
IBM - Arvind Krishna
Adobe- Shantanu Narayen
VMWare - Raghu Raghuram
So many CEOs of Indian origin in global tech!

He’s a Stanford grad.

Out of curiosity are there any who aren’t US post grads and are exclusively Indian products? Just curious if having a US degree is still. A barrier to these roles