Aruna Jayanthi, 

Few women have managed to break the glass ceiling in the ‘only men at the top’ information technology (IT) industry. Aruna Jayanthi not only did this, she is the only Indian woman to be appointed to the international group executive committee of French IT services company Capgemini. Jayanthi likes to tell it like it is. “I’m a creator, but I understand that I have to destroy a few things if I have to get what needs to be done.” It’s that approach that enabled the Tata Consultancy Services alumna to help grow Capgemini from 100 employees to 36,000 in the past decade. Today, one-third of the $12 billion group’s staff is in India. Jayanthi wants that number to go up to 50%, but recognises that to succeed globally, people will have to combine technical talent with business and social skills. “There’s talent, and then there’s talent,” she says, adding that she spends a lot of time picking out the best available because of the huge potential for India to drive profitability. Capgemini, under Jayanthi, is known for its oft-taken ‘off campus’ recruitment to seek out talent. The list of clients includes industry heavyweights such as Walt Disney, Coca-Cola, General Motors, and Levi Strauss.