Naina Lal Kidwai is Executive Director on the board of HSBC Asia-Pacific since 2010 and Chairman, HSBC India. She is a Non-Executive Director of Nestle S.A. since 2006 and Immediate Past President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Chair of its Inclusive Governance Council.

She is a member of various government committees for Trade & Industry and India's representative on the BRICS Business Council. She is on the Governing Board of National Council of Applied Economic Research, the National Institute of Bank Management, Global Advisor Harvard Business School and the Chair of its India Advisory Board, and on the City of London’s India Advisory Board. Other international engagements include being Trustee of the Board of the ASPEN Institute, India, India Advisory Board of the Prince Charles Charities and Member of the International Council for Women’s Business Leadership (ICWBL) created by Hillary Clinton.

Her interests in Environment and Water issues are represented by her Board membership of Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, the TERI Advisory Board, Founder and Chair of FICCI's Water Mission, World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Climate Change and Vice Chair of the Water Council and the Advisory Council of the Inquiry of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

An MBA from Harvard Business School, she has been recognized in India and abroad with several awards and listings for leadership and business. Repeatedly ranked in the Fortune global list of Top Women in Business, in the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times Global Listing of Women to Watch and listed by Time Magazine as one of their 15 Global Influentials 2002. She received the Padma Shri from the Government of India for her contribution to Trade and Industry in 2007

Her other interests include women empowerment through livelihood and wild life conservation.