Sundar Pichai visits India for the first time after becoming the CEO of Google. But he is not the only Indian-origin CEO heading a multi-billion dollar technology company in Silicon Valley. Satya Nadella gives him company as the CEO of Microsoft and he also made a trip to India earlier this year.
Here is how two Indians made it to the top of the corporate ladder at the two of the biggest tech companies in the world.
1. Hyderabad vs Chennai
Sundar Pichai better known in Chennai as Pichai Sundararajan, was born on July 12, 1972. The 43-year-old new CEO of Google Inc is from the state of Tamil Nadu.
He was the captain of his school’s cricket team and while growing up his family didn’t even own a television set.
How much does he earn now? The answer to that question is A LOT.
Satya Nadella, whose full name is Satya Narayana Nadella, was born in Hyderabad on 19 August 1967. The 47-year-old is the CEO of Microsoft corporation and earns $17.5 million (with a per annum stock grant and bonus).
2. IIT vs Manipal
Sundar Pichai is a graduate from IIT Kharagpur. He completed his BTech in Metallurgical Engineering. He then went on to complete his MS in Material Sciences and Engineering from Stanford University and followed this up with an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.
Pichai joined Google in 2004 and in 11 years climbed the corporate ladder to become the CEO at the search engine giant.
Satya Nadella also is an engineering graduate. He completed his BE in Electrical Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology in the year 1988. He then went on to pursue further studies and completed his MS (Computer Science) from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and finally completed his MBA from the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago.
He began his career at Sun Microsystems in the year 1992 and in the same year moved to Microsoft as a Program Manager in the Windows Developer Relations Group. It was a slow climb for Nadella in Microsoft’s corporate ladder. After 22 years of working for the same company, on February 4, 2014, Nadella became the CEO of Microsoft.
3. Microsoft vs Google
Sundar Pichai becomes the CEO of Google Inc after leading the innovation team for Google Chrome and Chrome OS as Vice President of Product Management. He was also involved with other Google search products like the Google toolbar, Desktop search, Gadgets, Google pack, Google gears, extensions and apps.
From 2011 to 2013, Sundar was a Director of Jive Software. He was approached by Twitter to lead Product in 2011 and was also a contender for Satya Nadella’s job as the CEO of Microsoft in the year 2014. His loyalty to Google paid off as he takes over as the CEO of the company.
Satya Nadella joined Microsoft as a Program Manager in the Windows Developer Relations Group in 1992. He then went on to become the GM for Microsoft’s Commerce platforms group and then spearheaded the development of the Microsoft Commerce Server, Microsoft Biztalk Server, Microsoft Office Small Business and Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM products.
Satya also held the position of Senior Vice President, R&D branch of Online Commerce and the Executive Vice President of Cloud and Enterprise group, before he became the CEO of Bill Gates’ Microsoft Corporation.
The stories of Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai show that Indians are not just a low-level work force in the Silicon Valley. They can be good managers too, and currently two major billion dollar tech companies rely on two Indian men who dreamt big.
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