SILICON VALLEY: 16 Indian-origin top executives ‘ruling’ tech industry globally

SILICON VALLEY: Top executives of tech giants
like Microsoft, IBM, Adobe and Google are well-known around the world but
that’s not all. There are several tech executives of Indian origin that hold
key positions at some of the biggest tech companies globally. In 2021, Microchip
Technology CEO Steve Sanghi transitioned to an executive chair role. Here we
look at 16 most important tech executives in the world that are of Indian
origin.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google

India-born
Sundar Pichai was named CEO of Google parent Alphabet Inc in 2019. Pichai
became Google head in August 2014. In his 15 years-plus career with the
company, he has led the company’s key businesses including Android, Chrome,
Maps, and more. Pichai is also said to be a contender for Microsoft CEO’s post
in 2014. He did his BTech from IIT Kharagpur, MS from Stanford (MS) and MBA
from Wharton.

​Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft

Hyderabad-born
Satya Nadella was named Microsoft CEO in February 2014. He succeeded Steve
Ballmer. Nadella studied engineering at Manipal Institute of Technology and did
MS from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and MBA from the University of
Chicago Booth School of Business. Nadella started his career with Microsoft in
1992 as a developer of Windows NT operating system.

​Shantanu Narayen, chairman, president, and CEO of
Adobe

Hyderabad-born
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. Before joining
Adobe, Shantanu held roles at Apple and Silicon Graphics. He holds a Bachelor
of Science from Osmania University, an MBA from the University of California,
Berkeley, and an MS from Bowling Green State University.

​Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO of IBM

An
electrical engineer from IIT Kanpur, Arvind Krishna became CEO of IBM in April
2020. He has been with IBM for almost 30 years and has held several
senior-level positions with the company. Krishna received his bachelor’s degree
from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and completed his PhD from the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

​Revathi Advaithi, CEO, Flex

Revathi
Advaithi is CEO of Flex Ltd, an American Singaporean-domiciled multinational
electronics contract manufacturer. Advaithi was named CEO of Flex in 2019. She
has previously served as the president and COO of Eaton’s electrical sector
business. 2019. She did her bachelor’s degree at the Birla Institute of
Technology and Science, Pilani, and MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global
Management.

​Nikesh Arora, chairman and CEO of Palo Alto
Networks

Nikesh
Arora joined Palo Alto Networks as CEO in 2018. Prior to this he has held key
positions at Google and SoftBank. Arora holds bachelor’s degree from the
Institute of Technology at Banaras Hindu University, MBA from Northeastern
University, and master’s of science from Boston College.

​Jayashree Ullal, president and CEO, Arista Network

Jayshree
Ullal became the president and CEO of Arista Networks in 2008. In 2014, she led
Arista to an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. Prior to Arista, Ullal has
worked with Cisco and AMD. She studied BS in electrical engineering from San
Francisco State University and completed her master’s in engineering management
from Santa Clara University.

​Parag Agrawal, CTO of Twitter

Parag
Agrawal is chief technology officer of Twitter since 2011. Prior to this, he
has worked with Microsoft, AT&T and Yahoo’s research teams. Agrawal is an
engineering graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

​Anjali Sud, CEO, Vimeo

Anjali
Sud is CEO of Vimeo, an open video platform since 2017. Before joining Vimeo,
Sud had worked with Amazon and Time Warner. She holds an MBA from Harvard
Business School.

​Sanjay Mehrotra, president and CEO of Micron
Technology

Sanjay
Mehrotra is CEO of semiconductor solutions company Micron Technology. He was
earlier with Sandisk and has been a Board member of Western Digital. Mehrotra
has held positions at Integrated Device Technology and Intel before co-founding
SanDisk. He completed his bachelors and masters degrees from the University of
California, Berkeley.

​George Kurian, CEO and Director, NetApp

George
Kurian became the CEO and president of storage and data management company
NetApp in 2015. Before joining NetApp, Kurian has worked with Cisco Systems,
Akamai Technologies and McKinsey & Company. Born in Kottayam district,
Kerala, he studied engineering at IIT-Madras, but left six months later to join
Princeton University. George completed his bachelor’s in electrical engineering
from Princeton University and went on to receive his MBA from Stanford
University.

​Aneel Bhusri, co-Founder, co-CEO, and chairman,
Workday

Aneel
Bhusri co-founded Workday in 2005 with Dave Duffield, the founder of
PeopleSoft. Prior to founding Workday, Bhusri has held positions at PeopleSoft.
Aneel received his bachelor’s degree from Brown University and completed his
MBA at Stanford University.

​Steve Sanghi, executive chair, Microchip
Technology

Steve
founded Microchip Technology in 1989 and has been CEO since 1991 and is now the
executive chair. He has worked with Intel. Sanghi received his bachelor’s
degree from Punjab University and completed his master’s in electrical and
computer engineering from the University of Massachusetts.

​Aman Bhutani, CEO, GoDaddy

Aman
Bhutani joined GoDaddy as CEO in 2019. Before this he held senior positions at
Expedia, including chief technology officer and SVP of worldwide engineering.
Bhutani did his bachelor’s degree from Delhi University and MBA from Lancaster
University.

​Anirudh Devgan, president and CEO, Cadence Design

Anirudh
Devgan became president of Cadence Design in 2018. He’s also worked with Magma
Design Automation and IBM. Devgan received his bachelor degree from the Indian
Institute of Technology, Delhi, and his master and PhD from Carnegie Mellon
University.

​Siva Sivaram, president, Technology and Strategy,
Western Digital

Siva
Sivaram is president of Western Digital. Prior to joining Western Digital, he
held senior positions at Intel, Matrix Semiconductors and Sandisk. He also
founded and served as CEO of Twin Peaks Technologies from 2008 to 2012. Sivaram
received his bachelor’s degree from the National Institute of Technology,
Triuchi. He did his master’s and doctorate degrees from the Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute.