Passion Stories

The rise of powerful women like Indra Nooyi has ushered in a new era for businesswomen around the world. Her story of determination, hard work and ethics has taken her from humble beginnings to a top leadership position. Indra Nooyi is an Indian-American business leader and entrepreneur. She is the former and best known chief executive officer (CEO) of PepsiCo. Indra Nooyi is one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People and Fortune’s Most Powerful Women, as well as a visionary leader.

Indra Nooyi attended Holy Angels AIHSS (Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School) in Chennai for her formal education. In 1976, Nooyi graduated from Madras Christian College with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. Two years later, she graduated from the Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata with a master’s degree in business administration. After completing her MBA, she worked first at ABB and then at Johnson and Johnson (J&J) in Mumbai as a product manager. One of her achievements at J&J is her close collaboration with the launch of the Stayfree sanitary napkin. Not satisfied with the way her career was going, she persuaded her parents to let her study at Yale Management School in the U.S. and earned a master’s degree in public and private management in 1978.

Before landing at Pepsi, the world’s second-largest soft drink company, Nooyi worked for Boston Consulting Group and Motorola. Nooyi persuaded Pepsi CEO Roger Enrico to take over the company’s restaurant division, which includes brands such as KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, as chief strategy officer.

Indra Nooyi started working at a young age and strongly believed in acquiring as much knowledge as possible and seizing the opportunities that life presents. She was elected to PepsiCo’s board of directors and became president and chief financial officer in 2001, after serving as senior vice president and chief financial officer since 2000. Nooyi also served as PepsiCo’s senior vice president of corporate strategy and development from 1996 to 2000 and senior vice president of strategic planning from 1994 to 1996.

In 2006, Nooyi surpassed all expectations when she was named to succeed Steven Reinemund as chief executive officer of Pepsi Co. Nooyi has continuously adjusted PepsiCo’s global strategy throughout her tenure as CEO. She was instrumental in redesigning PepsiCo’s brand identity. She describes herself as an ordinary girl who still retains much of her Indian heritage and wears a bindi sari to most office ceremonies.