Indian-origin executives continue to hold senior leadership positions at some of the world’s most influential companies, spanning technology, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, luxury, logistics and consumer goods.
The latest addition to the list is Anil Chakravarthy, who will become Adobe’s president and chief executive officer on December 1, 2026. He will succeed Shantanu Narayen, who will move to the position of executive chair after nearly two decades as Adobe’s CEO.
Anil Chakravarthy Takes the Adobe Helm
Chakravarthy currently leads Adobe’s Customer Experience Orchestration business and worldwide field operations. He joined Adobe in 2020 after serving as CEO of Informatica from 2015 to 2020, where he helped shift the company towards cloud and subscription-based services.
At Adobe, he has been involved in customer experience products and the company’s wider enterprise strategy. His appointment comes as Adobe continues to expand its artificial intelligence capabilities across creativity, productivity and customer experience.
Satya Nadella’s Microsoft Transformation
Satya Nadella, originally from Hyderabad, is chairman and CEO of Microsoft. He joined the company in 1992 and became CEO in 2014. His leadership has been closely associated with Microsoft’s expansion in cloud computing and enterprise services. Microsoft continues to place artificial intelligence at the centre of its product strategy, with Nadella remaining chairman and CEO in 2026.
Sundar Pichai Leads Alphabet
Sundar Pichai, born in Chennai, is CEO of Google and Alphabet. He joined Google in 2004 and went on to lead major products including Chrome and ChromeOS. He became Google CEO in 2015 and Alphabet CEO in 2019. His responsibilities now span Google’s search, advertising, cloud, hardware and artificial intelligence businesses.
Arvind Krishna Guides IBM
Arvind Krishna, an IIT Kanpur alumnus, is chairman, president and CEO of IBM. He became CEO in 2020 after spending more than three decades at the company. His tenure has focused on areas including hybrid cloud, enterprise artificial intelligence, quantum computing and consulting, while he also played a key role in IBM’s acquisition of Red Hat.
Leena Nair Brings Indian Leadership to Chanel
Leena Nair became global CEO of French luxury house Chanel in 2022 after a long career at Unilever. She spent nearly three decades at the consumer goods company and held leadership roles across multiple markets. At Chanel, she oversees businesses spanning fashion, beauty, watches and jewellery.
Raj Subramaniam Leads FedEx
Raj Subramaniam, originally from Thiruvananthapuram, is president and CEO of FedEx. He joined the company more than three decades ago and held senior positions across operations, marketing and international business before becoming CEO in 2022. He now oversees the company’s global logistics and supply-chain operations.
Technology Leaders Across Global Markets
Several other Indian-origin executives are leading major technology companies. George Kurian has been CEO of NetApp since 2015, focusing on data infrastructure and hybrid cloud. Revathi Advaithi has led Flex since 2019, overseeing its global manufacturing and supply-chain operations.
Sanjay Mehrotra, co-founder of SanDisk, is chairman, president and CEO of Micron Technology. The company develops memory and storage products used across computing and data-centre applications.
Nikesh Arora is chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks, where he leads the cybersecurity company’s global business. Jayshree Ullal is president and CEO of Arista Networks, which provides networking technology used by cloud and internet companies.
Meanwhile, Sridhar Ramaswamy leads Snowflake. He joined the company after Snowflake acquired Neeva, the artificial intelligence search startup he co-founded, and previously spent more than 15 years at Google.
Leadership Across Pharma, Banking and Industry
Indian-origin leadership also extends beyond technology. Vasant Narasimhan has been CEO of Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis since 2018, while C. S. Venkatakrishnan, widely known as Venkat, is group CEO of Barclays.
Vimal Kapur became CEO of Honeywell in 2023 and chairman in 2024. His career at Honeywell has included leadership across automation, process technology and advanced materials.
Consumer Brands and Media Add More Names
Shailesh Jejurikar became president and CEO of Procter & Gamble in January 2026 after more than three decades with the company. He was previously its chief operating officer and had led major businesses including Fabric and Home Care. P&G later appointed him chairman of the board effective August 1, 2026.
At YouTube, Neal Mohan has served as CEO since 2023 after previously working as the company’s chief product officer. He has been closely involved with products including YouTube Shorts, YouTube Premium, YouTube Music and YouTube TV.
Kunal Shah Takes Charge at WhatsApp
The newest and most unusual move is Kunal Shah, founder of Indian fintech company CRED, who became the global head of WhatsApp in June 2026. He succeeded Will Cathcart, who had led WhatsApp since 2019. Shah stepped away from CRED’s executive responsibilities while retaining his personal stake in the company.
Together, these leaders represent a broad cross-section of Indian-origin talent at the highest levels of global business, from software and artificial intelligence to banking, pharmaceuticals, luxury goods, manufacturing and consumer technology.
Also Read: Adobe Names Anil Chakravarthy as New CEO, Shantanu Narayen to Step Down
