Sundar Pichai’s elevation to the chief executive’s post at Google Inc. this week has prompted celebrations across India, with pundits and everyday citizens cheering the 43-year-old engineer’s ascension as evidence of the subcontinent’s growing influence in tech.
But Pichai’s rise to the top of one the world’s most powerful companies is also raising questions about India’s own technology ambitions, or lack thereof. With Indians filling the executive ranks at so many Western pioneers – Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Adobe chief Shantanu Narayen are from the country, as is chipmaker GlobalFoundries' CEO Sanjay Kumar Jha -- why hasn’t India developed its own Google, Apple or Microsoft – or even a venture to rival Chinese upstarts like breakout smartphone maker Xiaomi?
The question becomes more pointed given that Pichai’s ascent shows that India is producing leaders with the technical and management chops to lead world-class organizations. His new role may only be a title change that made his de facto position in Google official, but he’s “a technical guy who has the capability to navigate to the top in a positive manner ... that’s pretty impressive, actually,” said Ahimanikya Satapathy, a fellow at the Indian Software Product Industry Round Table, a product startup lobby.
Pichai is following a path blazed by the aforementioned Desis and others, including SoftBank heir apparent Nikesh Arora, who was himself previously a senior vice president at Google. “All credit to them because they have reached the top in a multicultural environment,” said Rishikesha T. Krishnan, director of the Indian Institute of Management in Indore.
Beyond the tech scene, be it the current principal of the high school Pichai attended in the southern city of Chennai, or a random Indian with a Twitter account, or one of the country’s biggest film stars, Indians are expressing pride in Pichai’s achievement. Cinema star Shah Rukh Khan took to Twitter to praise the executive, saying “well done and congratulations, my friend.”
But it's not all jubilation. While India is exporting tech superstars, it's not creating the kinds of companies needed to keep the next Nadella or Pichai at home. India plummeted 10 spots to 76 last year on the Global Innovation Index that the multinational business school INSEAD, the World Intellectual Property Organization and Cornell University compile. Some in the country see Pichai’s appointment as California-based Google’s CEO as evidence that the subcontinent’s best and brightest must leave to fulfill their potential.
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