Indian executives stepping into global leadership roles at major MNCs

Bengaluru: Multinationals are no longer just building in India. They are increasingly hiring leaders here to take on global and regional responsibilities.

As multinationals expand their India operations and shift product development, AI, engineering and enterprise-wide decision-making to the country, they are entrusting India-based executives with broader mandates. Companies and recruiters attribute the trend to India's growing strategic importance, deep leadership pool and the evolution of global capability centres (GCCs) into innovation hubs.

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Executive search firms Korn Ferry, Heidrick & Struggles and Executive Access said they are seeing a rise in such mandates.

At the most senior levels, total compensation, depending on the scope and complexity of the role, ranges from about ₹4.5 crore up to ₹15-19 crore, particularly where executives combine global, regional and local responsibilities.

According to Korn Ferry, industrials, semiconductors, electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and green energy are leading the trend.

"We are also seeing professional services firms and global capability centres becoming increasingly comfortable locating leadership responsibilities here," said Navnit Singh, regional managing director, Korn Ferry India. "These are not necessarily CEO positions-what we're seeing are more functional leadership roles at the C-1 and C-2 levels, depending on the size of the company."

Technology remains the biggest source of demand as organisations expand AI capabilities and broader digital transformation programmes. Recruiters are also seeing momentum across financial services, consumer, healthcare and industrial sectors. Beyond functional leadership roles, companies are increasingly seeking CEOs and board directors with experience in scaling businesses in India and other emerging markets.

Companies said they now have more leaders based in India who oversee global charters, lead distributed teams and drive worldwide outcomes. "Today, our leaders in India are shaping global products, platforms and technology priorities across areas such as e-commerce, catalogue and supply chain," said Balu Chaturvedula, country head at Walmart Global Tech. "Their ability to combine deep technical expertise with strong business acumen, while collaborating across markets and cultures, positions them well to lead at a global level."

Heidrick & Struggles is also seeing a rise in India-based global leadership mandates, driven by the evolution of GCCs, global innovation centres (GICs) and India development centres (IDCs).

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Many of these centres have moved beyond traditional support functions and now lead enterprise-wide technology, product and AI transformation, said Charul Madan, partner, Heidrick & Struggles India. "We're seeing more leaders being appointed for global technology platforms, product portfolios, AI programmes, data and digital transformation initiatives. Many of these technology and product leaders are no longer managing India-specific mandates, but leading global teams, budgets and priorities and reporting directly into global leadership teams from India," he said.