Indian born American businesswoman, Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi, president and chief executive officer of PepsiCo is the 4th most powerful woman in the world today. Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 and was named president and CFO in 2001. Nooyi has directed the company's global strategy for more than a decade and led PepsiCo's restructuring. According to BusinessWeek, since she started as CFO in 2000[2], the company's annual revenues have risen 72%, while net profit more than doubled, to $5.6 billion in 2006.
She lives with her husband and two daughters in Fairfax county, Connecticut. If you ever visit her Connecticut home, do remember to take your shoes off before entering. If you forget, at least remember to take them off before entering the large puja room where a diya is lit and the inviting air of incense greets you. She keeps an image of Ganesha in her office, and in fact, some PepsiCo officials visited India and received similar images besides being told of the Hindu belief about Ganesh being the symbols of auspicious beginnings. Many of them now keep images of Ganesh in their offices! Nooyi attends PepsiCo board meetings in a sari, for she believes the corporate world appreciates people who are genuine.
Indra Nooyi spent her childhood in Chennai. Her father worked at the State Bank of Hyderabad and her grandfather was a district judge. Indra Nooyi's mother encouraged her and her sister to deliver a speech on every night about what they wanted to be. After the speech the winner would get a piece of chocolate. This activity installed confidence and ambition in these little hearts, which helped them to pursue greater heights in the later parts of their life.
Before joining PepsiCo in 1994, Indra Nooyi was Senior Vice President of Strategy and Strategic Marketing for Asea Brown Boveri, and Vice President and Director of Corporate Strategy and Planning at Motorola. She also had stints at Mettur Beardsell and Johnson & Johnson. At PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi played key roles in the Tricon spin-off, the purchase of Tropicana, the public offering of Pepsi Cola bottling group and the merger with Quaker Foods.
Beginning her career in India, Nooyi held product manager positions at Johnson & Johnson and textile firm Mettur Beardsell. In 1980, Nooyi joined the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and then held strategy positions at Motorola and Asea Brown Boveri. She is a Successor Fellow of the Yale Corporation. She is a Class B director of the Board of Directors of the New York Federal Reserve. She serves as a member of the boards of the International Rescue Committee, Catalyst and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Eisenhower Fellowships, and currently serves as Chairperson of the U.S.-India Business Council.