Anjali Bansal, 

Looking for a power player on the board, or a heavy-hitting CEO? Bansal is the person India Inc. goes to with such requests. She likens setting up executive search firm Spencer Stuart’s India business “to flying the plane while you’re building it”. Last year, she set up the CEO practice, launched an Asia Pacific Board practice, and a family-owned business practice. A former consultant with McKinsey who has worked in both New York and Mumbai, Bansal placed former SBI chief O.P. Bhatt on the Board of Hindustan Unilever, JP Morgan India chief Kalpana Morparia on the board of tobacco giant Philip Morris International, and recently found Cairn India its CFO (Sudhir Mathur). She also placed Arun Nanda on the board of private equity firm Advent International.