This list of famous XLRI Alumni is surely going to impress you!

XLRI, the oldest B-School of India, is considered at par with the top IIMs and is among the top five B-schools of India. Founded by Jesuit fathers in Jamshedpur, the steel city, XLRI is the top ranked school for Human Resource education not only in the country, but is considered as one of the finest in Asia-Pacific. It was also recognized by London business school among the first five institutes in India for management research. 

With an amazing campus, curriculum and opportunities, XLRI also has world-class facilities. Placements at XLRI have been at par with the IIMs over the years and this is exactly the reason this management college is so sought after! It also manages to bag lucrative offers for summer interns in International locations including Switzerland, UK, Australia, and Singapore. Despite the locational disadvantage, XLRI for many years has been the preferred choice of top recruiters. 

Other big names that recruit graduates from XLRI include McKinsey, BCG, NM Rothschild, Aditya Birla Group, TAS, P&G, Kraft-Cadbury, Goldman Sachs, Citibank, Standard Chartered, DBS, Nomura, Hay Group, Accenture Management Consulting, KPMG, Aon Hewitt, Amazon, Ernst & Young, Unilever, ITC and PepsiCo. 

Being the oldest B-school of India, its alumni network has deep penetration in the industry, of whom many enjoy coveted positions in almost all the major companies. Not to mention, the HR Leadership in almost all the companies operating in India has an XLRI pass out. Here is a carefully curated list of the XLRI alumni who have buried their anchors in the market and will prove to you that XLRI is just as good as the top IIMs!

1. Leena Nair (CHRO Unilever)

Leena Nair, a proud alumnus of XLRI is the first female, first Asian Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) of Unilever. She is a member of the Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE), which is responsible for delivering Unilever's business & financial performance. Leena was also the youngest executive director and the first woman in the Management Committee of Hindustan Unilever in 90 years heading HR.

Bearing an overall responsibility for the human capital of Unilever, Leena operates across multiple regulatory and labour environments spread over 190 countries. Her role is to ensure that the company has the right people for the right roles, with the right mindset and to deliver high business performance. She also heads the Diversity and Inclusion agenda for the organisation and works to strive for its workforce to be truly inclusive and diverse.

Leena was also appointed the first woman on Unilever South Asia Leadership Team responsible for Unilever's growth in the Indian, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lankan and Nepali market. 

2. Vineet Nayar (Former CEO of HCL)

A former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of HCL Technologies, Vineet Nayar is an Indian business executive, author and philanthropist. He is also the CEO and  Founder Chairman of Sampark Foundation and author of the critically acclaimed management book "Employees First, Customers Second: Turning Conventional Management Upside Down” (Harvard Business Press, June 2010). which has sold more than 100,000 copies.

3. Arun Maira (Former India Chairman of BCG)

Former India Chairman of Boston Consulting Group, Arun Maira is a management consultant and former member of Planning Commission of India.

A part of Tata Administrative Services for 25 years, Maira worked at various important positions in Tata Group. He was the first non-bumiputera CEO in Malaysia when he worked for Tata Industries and was a board member of Tata Motors. He played a key part in Tata Motors' successful entry into the LCV segment. After this he worked with Arthur D. Little for 10 years where he was Leader of Global Organisation Practice and Managing Director of Innovation Associates.

Prior to joining the Planning Commission of India, Arun Maira has been on the boards of several other big companies as well.

4. Sandip Sen (Global CEO, Executive Director of Aegis Ltd)

An alumnus of XLRI, Sandip Sen is an Indian business executive and the founder of IngeniCX, along with being the Lead Director Litmus World, a well-known SAAS startup company, and Director of the Consultancy firm COPC Inc.

He was the Global CEO for six years. Sandip contributed exponentially to the Aegis growth story, as a market maker and brand builder and was instrumental in building the company’s global business across multiple geographies. From less than USD 60 million revenues, his strategic insights, sales and execution capabilities helped architect Aegis into a USD 1 billion company with over 55,000 employees across 13 countries. His vision and strategy led to Gartner and IDC to include Aegis amongst the top Service Providers Worldwide. 

Under his leadership, Aegis won numerous prestigious awards including the Best Indian Company in the US and Aon Hewitt Best Employer. Sandip played a pivotal role in the extremely successful sale of Aegis USA Inc. to Teleperformance and later on Aegis Ltd to a private equity company, Capital Square Partners.

Additionally, Sandip is a well-known writer, speaker and thought leader. He writes regularly for Business Newspapers and has been expansively quoted and featured by the global media fraternity.

In 2017, Sandip was awarded the prestigious Distinguished Alumni Award by XLRI.

5. Srinivas Rao Kandula (Chairman of Capgemini)

A pass out from XLRI, an Indian business executive and entrepreneur, Srinivas Rao Kandula is the current Chairman of Capgemini India operations, He was the CEO of Capgemini in India and member of the Executive Committee of the Capgemini Group prior to his new role. He was also a former Member of the Executive Council and head HR in IGATE Corporation and looked after their Marketing, Quality and Business Strategy functions, internationally.

6. Bimlendra Jha (Former CEO Tata Steel UK)

Bimlendra Jha, an alumnus of XLRI  is a corporate leader, turnaround specialist and has an entrepreneurial experience with Tata Group for nearly three decades. He is the former MD/CEO of Ambuja Cement. Prior to this he was CEO of Tata Steel UK. Bimlendra, during the course of his tenure in Europe was responsible for and striving to re-structure several under-performing assets to turn them to profitability, using his expertise in Theory of Constraints. Bimlendra came into the limelight in the U.K with several high-profile restructuring deals such as rescue and sale of British Steel to Greybull Capital. The deal saved an estimated 5000 direct jobs for the struggling entity.

In April 2016, Bimlendra was chosen to lead Tata Steel UK as its CEO to further restructure the business and stop it from losing out on a million pounds per day. In a £100-million deal, Bimlendra hived off the specialty steel business to Liberty House and launched a transformation program called Delivering our Future for performance improvement in Port Talbot and its linked supply chain in the U.K. 

He is also the Founder at IgnitingMinds Guru Pvt Ltd.

7. Sunit Sinha (PPC Head at KPMG)

An XLRI pass out, Mr. Sunit Sinha is currently serving as Partner and Head of People, Performance and Culture (PPC) at KPMG India. In his role, Sinha will lead KPMG in India’s human resources function which comprises talent management and strategy, driving the people's culture and professional development to further KPMG in India’s operations and growth. 

He has over 23 years of experience and comes with expertise in organizational strategy and transformation, human capital strategy and leadership development, organisation design, post-merger integration, culture transformation and HR transformation in a digital world.

8. Sameer Nagarajan (Global President- HR at Cadila Pharmaceuticals)

An HRM batch alumni of XLRI Jamshedpur, Sameer Nagarajan, is the Global President, HR at Cadila Pharmaceuticals. He has previously worked at Ciba-Geigy and Microland, A F Ferguson & Co, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Dabur and has transformed the nature of engagement with the blue-collar workforce which led to significant organizational growth internationally. 

9. Krish Shankar (Group Head, HR at Infosys)

Krish Shankar, another pass out from XLRI is currently the Group Head, Human Resources at Infosys and also the Honourable President of National HRD Network, India. He has been felicitated with the HR Lifetime Achievement Award, at The Great Manager Awards by ‘The Economic Times.’ 

Mr. Shankar has over 30 years of experience and has led several global HR functions in organizations like Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, and Unilever. Prior to joining Infosys, he was the Head of HR for South Asia at Philips. In his wide-ranging experience in these organizations, he has led the transformation of HR into a strategic partner, facilitated organization-wide transformation and capability development, and was instrumental in building a strong talent pool through a series of leadership development initiatives.  

10. Sandeep Kataria (Global CEO of Bata Group)

An alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur, Sandeep Kataria is the first Indian to be appointed as the global CEO of  Bata. He was previously the CEO of Bata India Limited. With 24 years of experience at Unilever, Yum! Brands, and Vodafone in India and Europe before joining Bata India as CEO in 2017, he has been directly involved in leading businesses and powerhouse brands that command impressive consumer following and extensive global reach. 

11. Vinay Razdan (CHRO at HDFC)

Mr. Vinay Razdan is the current Chief Human Resources Officer at HDFC, and is responsible for the entire human resources function in the bank. An HR veteran of 30 years, Mr Razdan has varied experience across sectors such as FMCG, IT services and telecommunications. He has held leadership positions with marquee organisations such as ITC, HCL Technologies and Idea Cellular. 

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