5 IIT graduates who climbed to the top in the United States

Several Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) alumni have risen to the top of some of the world’s biggest tech companies. Here's a look at just five of them.

Several Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) alumni have risen to the top of some of the world’s biggest tech companies, shaping global business from Silicon Valley to beyond. From Aravind Srinivas at Perplexity to Sundar Pichai at Google, these leaders exemplify how an IIT education has propelled engineers and entrepreneurs onto the international stage, redefining the role of Indian talent in the US corporate landscape.

Nikesh Arora (L) and Sundar Pichai (R) are both IIT graduates today settled in the US

Here is a look at 5 business leaders who graduated from an IIT in India and are today based in the United States:

Sundar Pichai

As CEO of Alphabet and Google, Sundar Pichai is one of the most influential people in the world today. Madurai-born Pichai earned a B.Tech in metallurgical engineering from IIT Kharagpur — which is India’s oldest and largest IIT. Pichai graduated from IIT Kharagpur in 1993. His professors remember him as “shy, quiet, but extremely intelligent”.

“He was not diffident, just very focussed, Whenever he was asked something, he was never found wanting. He was always willing to participate in various student activities, especially within the department,” said Indranil Manna, who had been Pichai’s B.Tech thesis guide, still has a copy of his work.

Arvind Krishna

Speaking to NDTV earlier this year, Krishna said that IITians have more opportunities in India today. I graduated in 1985 and tried working in India. But back then, people were risk-averse, capital was scarce, and most just copied rather than invented,” he said.

"But by 2000, that changed," he added. "Look at IIT Bombay today, half the graduates are doing startups in India. The ecosystem is alive. So yes, you can now build that career here

Vinod Khosla

American billionaire businessman and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from IIT Delhi. The co-founder of Sun Microsystems attended IIT from 1971 to 1976, before moving to the US to study at Carnegie Mellon.

Through Khosla Ventures, he has backed dozens of technology and clean-energy startups, earning a reputation as one of Silicon Valley’s most influential investors with a knack for spotting disruptive ideas early.

Aravind Srinivas

Aravind Srinivas is the co-founder and CEO of Perplexity AI. Born in Chennai, he is an alumnus of IIT Madras — from where he graduated in 2017 with a dual degree (B.Tech and M.Tech) in electrical engineering.

Srinivas went on to earn a PhD in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley, and held research roles at leading labs including OpenAI, Google Brain and DeepMind before launching Perplexity in 2022.

Nikesh Arora

Nikesh Arora has been the chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks since 2018. Arora graduated from Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (presently IIT BHU) in 1989.

He previously served as President and Chief Business Officer at SoftBank Group and as a senior executive at Google, where he led global sales and business operations. Today, he is among the highest-paid CEOs of Silicon Valley.