Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – It is common knowledge that many Indians are at the helm of major global technology companies, from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Alphabet (Google's parent company) CEO Sundar Pihcai, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna , to Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen.

The reason behind this, according to former Tata Sons executive director R Gopalakrishnan, is that Indian society is formed in the gladiator way.

“From birth certificates to death certificates, from getting into school to getting a job, from lack of infrastructure to insufficient capabilities, growing up in India allows Indians to be natural managers” , he explained, quoted by the BBC, Sunday (10/30/2022). ).

Furthermore, competition and chaos would make Indian society problem solvers and adapters. Another fact is that they often prioritize professionalism over personal assistance in the busy office culture of the United States.

“This is a characteristic of top leaders around the world,” Gopalakrishnan said.

Moreover, BBC reports that Indian-born CEOs in Silicon Valley make up a minority of the 4 million richest and most educated people in the United States. One million of them are scientists and engineers, more than 70% hold H-1B visas, i.e. foreign work permits issued by the United States to Indian software engineers, and 40% of all engineers in Seattle are from India.

According to the author of The Other One Percent: Indians in America, this was a radical change in American immigration policy in the 1960s. After the civil rights movement, the original national quotas were replaced in favor of skills and family reunification.

After that, many Indians with higher education under scientists, engineers and doctors, and then a large number of software programmers, flocked to the United States.

The authors add that Indian immigrants are different from any other country. Not only do they have the upper caste privilege of being able to attend renowned universities, but a smaller portion can afford to obtain a master's degree in the United States.

“It’s the best outcome and they join a company where the best rise to the top,” said tech entrepreneur and academic Viviek Wadhwa.

“The network that was built [di Silicon Valley] also bring benefits, the idea is that they help each other.”

(Martya Rizky/hsy)