“Can’t become CEO in America unless…”: US envoy’s humorous quotation
Speaking with Mr. Garcetti, Indian-origin business leaders expressed similar thoughts while praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership
US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti recently stated that in present times, one cannot become a CEO in America unless they are of Indian heritage. Mr Garcetti made the amusing remark during the recent 2024 Indiaspora AI Summit at Stanford University.
“The successes have happened, more than one in 10 CEOs of Fortune 500 companies now are Indian immigrants who studied in the US. The old joke was you could not become a CEO in the US if you were Indian, now the joke is you cannot become a CEO in America if you are not Indian, whether it is Google, Microsoft or Starbucks, people have come and made a big difference,” Mr Garcetti said.
Sundar Pichai is in charge of Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc.; Satya Nadella is in charge of Microsoft, and Laxman Narasimhan is in charge of Starbucks.
Business leaders of Indian descent who were speaking with Mr. Garcetti had similar feelings and expressed gratitude for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, especially in establishing India as a center of innovation and advancement on a worldwide scale.
“India is perceived very differently in the global space. It’s a space of innovation. It’s a space of human capital. It’s a space of progress and innovation. And as we look forward, what Modi has been able to do is put India into the global map as a credible innovator, leader for all countries to invest in and grow,” said Informatica CEO Amit Walia.
In a similar vein, Elastic CEO Ashutosh Kulkarni praised PM Modi’s administration for being receptive to business and innovation and highlighted India’s enormous potential for advancement. Under PM Modi’s leadership, Navin Chaddha of Mayfield Fund praised the “amazing” period.
In addition to international IT titans, Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu was present at the Indiaspora AI Summit.
A few weeks prior to this, Mr. Garcetti said, in investors and entrepreneurs to embrace India as the future. In a video shared by ANI, Garcetti said, “If you want to see the future, come to India. If you want to feel the future, come to India. If you want to work on the future, come to India. I have the great privilege of being able to do that every single day as the leader of the US Mission.” He made these remarks at the ‘Impact & Innovation: 25 Years of Making Development a Ground Reality’ event in Delhi on April 9.
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