Starbucks new CEO learns to make coffee to become a 'certified barista'

Starbucks incoming CEO Laxman Narasimhan has learnt a new skill. He is seen to be making coffee and working on being certified as a barista.

As part of his familiarity training with the company, he is learning how to make coffee at a Starbucks store and working on being certified as a barista. 

A LinkedIn user named Jordan Merlino who is a financial consultant thanked the Starbucks CEO for serving handmade Irish cream cold brew and wrote, “Personally, I am a big fan of the PSL, but the Irish cream cold brew handmade by Laxman Narasimhan was pretty great. Such a cool experience to meet a CEO I am a big fan of. Thank you for taking 2 minutes out of your day to take a photo with me.”

Narasimhan commented on the same post by thanking the user for coming over to the Starbucks store. He wrote, “Thank you for coming into the Starbucks store where I was training on our holiday beverages. They should be in the market later this week in the US stores. I am still working on being certified as a barista and glad you liked the beverage I made. Thank you again and hope you will come again to Starbucks over the holiday season.”

Narasimhan joins the growing list of Indian-born executives at global corporations, including Google, Microsoft, and IBM. In fact, he left Reckitt Benckiser (where he was previously CEO) after a successful turnaround.

Narasimhan had earlier worked at PepsiCo and McKinsey. He received the majority of his education in Pune, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering, followed by an MBA from The Wharton School in the United States before joining McKinsey & Company, where he worked for nineteen years. 

Also Read: 'Brownie trifle with caramel': Starbucks' Indian-origin CEO-designate takes 'first sip' of familiarisation