The domination of Indian American talent at top American multinational companies, especially in high tech but also in academia and international institutions, only seems to go from strength to strength. Agrawal joins Satya Nadella at Microsoft and Sundar Pichai at Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
Nikkei Asia
People born in India occupying top positions at other global companies worldwide include several women such as Canadian American Sonia Syngal, CEO of the clothing giant Gap, and Americans Revathi Advaithi, CEO of Flextronics and Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo. The list of Indians at the very highest levels of the corporate world goes on and on.
Agrawal’s appointment led to both celebration and soul searching in India, with many wondering why those born in India had to go abroad to succeed at the highest level. Coincidentally, in the same week, the Indian government released data showing that a record 600,000 Indians gave up their nationality between 2017 and 2021.
There are more than enough talented people to go around. India can supply talented people to the world and have plenty of them left in India to push India forward.
“No one could have guessed this kind of boom a year or two back. Digitisation and the rising online consumer base in India is a real opportunity for all investors. I think it will hit $40 billion this year,” said Anil Joshi, managing partner at Unicorn India Ventures, an early-stage investor.
Money Control
2021 has seen 40 unicorns from India so far – privately held startups valued at over a billion dollars, compared to 26 unicorns in the entire decade prior. Once named for their rarity, unicorns have become mainstream, with businesses from real estate to software to job portals attracting frenzied funding