Books Recommended by Indra Nooyi

Indra Nooyi is one of the world’s most powerful women, being known as PepsiCo’s CEO from 2006 to 2018.

Indra was born in India and is an alumni of IIM Calcutta, where she had her MBA, and Yale, where she earned a master’s degree in Public and Private Management.

In the 14 years prior to joining PepsiCo, Nooyi worked as an International Corporate Strategist at the Boston Consulting Group, VP and Director of Corporate Strategy and Planning at Motorola, and Senior VP of Strategy and Strategic Marketing at ABB (ASEA Brown Boveri), an automation multinational corporation.

Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994, where she helped the company position for growth in China, the Middle East and India. Between 2001 and 2006, she served as CFO, and was named CEO and President in 2006, becoming the fifth CEO in PepsiCo’s history.

Under her leadership and successful strategic direction, the company was restructured, including the 1997 selling of Tricon (later renamed Yum! Brands that operate KFC, Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut and others), acquisition of Tropicana, and other strategic investments which led to 80% growth of company’s sales.

She also focused on taking measures that will cut sugar, salt and fat, in order to make Pepsi products more healthy, as soda consumption has been declining for over than a decade.

Nooyi stepped down as the CEO at the end of 2018 and was replaced by Ramon Laguarta, who also became a member of the board of directors. Nooyi continued to serve as the chairwoman of the company until the beginning of 2019.

During her years as CEO, Nooyi was open about the challenges faced by women leaders and pushed the public towards honest conversations about the importance of work-life balance and the choices many women face.

In February 2019, Nooyi joined Amazon’s Board of Directors, raising the percentage of women on its board to 45%.

Books recommended by Indra Nooyi: