
Their parents might have laid down the path for them to follow, but it is by no means a rosy one. The next-gen moguls of the Indian industry have next-gen challenges to face. But some of them are already making headlines for their fresh perspectives and new takes on how to drive the business forward.
Here a look at some of the young leaders of India Inc:
Isha Ambani: Mukesh and Nita Ambani’s daughter is perhaps the most well-known face of the younger lot. She shoulders the responsibility, along with her twin brother Akash, of foraying the group into new business ventures. She formally joined Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail in 2014. She is also widely credited for the Reliance Jio Platforms’ $5.7-billion deal with Facebook. Isha Ambani is also credited for the launch of fashion portal Ajio and e-commerce venture JioMart. She is a psychology and South Asian studies graduate from Yale University. She is married to Anand Piramal.
Akash Ambani: Isha Ambani’s twin brother is Mukesh and Nita Ambani’s eldest son. Akash joined the company in 2014 after receiving an economics degree from Brown University. He is also credited for the Facebook deal. He, like his twin sister, is credited for the launch of JioMart. The Ambani scion is married to Shloka Mehta since 2019.
Anant Ambani: The youngest son of Mukesh and Tina Ambani, is known to have been involved in events such as the Indian Premier League. RIL owns the Mumbai Indians team. Anant Ambani was nominated as a member of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee by Uttarakhand chief minister TS Rawat in March 2019. He went to Brown University for this graduation, after completing his schooling from Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai.
Rishad Premji: Son of Azim and Yasmeen Premji, Rishad Premji is the Executive Chairman of Wipro Limited. Until recently, he was Wipro's Chief Strategy Officer. He is also on the boards of Wipro Enterprises Ltd, Wipro-GE, Azim Premji Foundation and Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives. Rishad Premji was the Chairman of NASSCOM for the financial year 2018-19. Before joining the company, he was with Bain & Company, and GE Capital. Rishad has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in economics from Wesleyan University. The World Economic Forum recognised Rishad Premji as a Young Global Leader in 2014.
Roshni Nadar Malhotra: One of the most influential names in Indian entrepreneurship, Roshni Nadar Malhotra took over the reins of HCL Technologies from her father Shiv Nadar in 2020. Cut to 2022, when HCL Tech, one of the country’s top five IT services firms, expects revenue to grow in double digits in constant currency for FY22, with EBIT margin expected to be between 19-21 per cent for FY’22. Nadar, a Northwestern University and Kellogg Graduate School of Management alumna, has huge shoes to fill.
Kavin Bharti Mittal: Son of Airtel boss Sunil Bharti Mittal and Nyna Mittal, Kavin is the founder and CEO of instant messaging app, Hike. At its peak in 2018, Hike had raised over $250 million from investors such as Tencent, SoftBank, Tiger Global and Foxconn. Mittal is now taking the company to the next phase and build the Rush Gaming Universe (RGU) where players can battle it out in casual games. He aims to give players the opportunity to play games and generate digital assets based on the outcome of gameplay.
Karan Adani: Son of Gautam and Priti Adani, Karan Adani is the Chief Executive Officer of Adani Ports and SEZ Limited. He is currently spearheading a project to form an integrated logistics company for APSEZ. Under his leadership, APSEZ expanded from two ports to 10 ports and terminals. Karan is an economics graduate from Purdue University. He is married to Paridhi Adani, Partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.
Jeet Adani: The younger son of Gautam and Priti Adani, Jeet Adani joined the group in 2019. He is currently the vice president, group finance. He attended the University of Pennsylvania – School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He joined the group CFO’s office and looked after strategic finance, capital markets and risk and governance policy. Jeet also heads Adani Airports and Adani Digital Labs that is all set to build a super app.
Dipali Goenka: The CEO and Joint MD of Welspun Group, is married to Welspun Chairman BK Goenka. The entrepreneur was married at the age of 18. When her daughters turned 10 and 7, she got back to work and started with a design studio. In 2003, she launched premium bed and bath brand Spaces. She spent most of her time on the shop floor, meeting distributors and picking every piece of advice that came by. But challenges like the global financial crisis in 2008, American retailer Target ending all contracts with Welspun in 2016, and the pandemic made it a necessity to create a robust digital framework.
Nisaba Godrej: Daughter of Adi and Parmeshwar Godrej, was the Chairperson and MD of Godrej Consumer Products, before stepping down in October last year, and becoming the country’s Executive Chairperson. An MBA from Harvard Business School, Nisaba’s early challenge was to turn around Godrej Agrovet, followed by the responsibility to head GCPL.
Anand Piramal: The Piramal scion is an Executive Director at the company. He runs the financial services businesses of the group, along with Piramal Realty. He also founded a rural healthcare start-up called ‘Piramal eSwasthya’, India’s largest private primary healthcare initiative. Anand Piramal has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He is married to Isha Ambani.
Nandini Piramal: The Executive Director of Piramal Enterprises is the daughter of Ajay and Swati Piramal. She runs strategy, HR and IT for the pharma business. She had, before joining the company, worked with McKinsey as an analyst. She took care of the Piramal Healthcare factory making API and formulations in Newcastle.
Anmol and Anshul Ambani: Anmol Ambani and Anshul Ambani are Anil and Tina Ambani’s sons. Anmol is a graduate of the Warwick Business School and is expected to take to business like his cousins. He recently got married to Khrisha Shah. Anshul is the younger son of Anil and Tina Ambani. Tina Ambani’s Instagram posts frequently feature the two Ambanis.
Param Adani: Son of Pranav Adani, Managing Director (Agro, Oil & Gas) at Adani Group, Param Adani is the founder of Param STEM Club, an initiative to build science skills in underprivileged schools in India. Param Adani is a student at St. Paul’s School, London. He has been selected for the Center for Excellence in Education’s Research Science Institute (RSI) hosted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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