CEO Portrait 2024 – Professionalization of the Indian CEO role

How professionally driven are Indian firms? Explore the evolving landscape of CEO roles, the shift from promoter-led to professional leadership

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๐—๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐˜€? ๐—œ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐˜€, ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ-๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜†, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—บ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜?

๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฏ% of the firms are still led by the promoter-CEO while ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿณ% are professional-led.

And which way is this headed? We know from our study last year ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐Ÿญ.๐Ÿต%, i.e., roughly 2% of the promoter firms are handing over the CEO role to a professional on an annualized basis.

This might seem small, but actually, it is quite significant. In just about a decade, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ-๐—–๐—˜๐—ข ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—น ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—ฎ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ท๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ~๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฑ% ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—–๐—˜๐—ข ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—น. In two decades, promoter-CEOs will become an even smaller minority.

Is this likely to happen? The answer to that lies in the CXO layer below the CEO, especially in those who helm the “๐—•๐—จ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ” roles.

๐—™๐˜‚๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐Ÿต๐Ÿด% ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—จ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น (i.e., not from the promoter family) in companies across the promoter-professional divide. If we remember that 33% of the companies are still led by promoter-CEOs, this is quite amazing and points to a situation where the layer below the CEO, even in a promoter firm, is entirely professional. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜‡๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ท๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜†.

๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ: The “CEO Landscape 2024” series is based on an analysis of 100 Indian companies across 20 sectors covering both manufacturing and services. Analysis is based on very detailed assessments of CEOs, CFOs, and the entire CXO team, covering nearly 1100 leaders.

๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜…๐˜ ๐˜‚๐—ฝ: “Span of Control of the CEO”

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Anu graduated from DU and subsequently completed her full-time MBA from IMI. Post her MBA, she worked in sales in the BFSI space, with ICICI Lombard, Principal Asset Management, DSP Blackrock and Edelweiss, across bancassurance, and institutional sales. Later, she worked in the start-up space, while pursuing and completing the Master's in Business Law from National Law School. At Resource Bridge, Anu is a Sr Associate in the CEO Practice and has worked closely with Ram on key mandates.


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Ram is currently the Leader for the CEO Practice and also the Managing Partner of the firm. Ram is an Engineer-turned (BE Mechanical, MS Industrial) MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, and brings with him 7 years in corporate, 14 years in top-tier consulting and 10 years in executive search. He was last the leader for Life-sciences at Monitor Group and prior to that, headed IMS Consulting and AT Kearney, starting his career with Ashok Leyland. Brings extensive experience in automotive and healthcare/life-sciences space.


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Dhanlaxmi is a CA and ICWA from Mumbai, and brings with her extensive experience as a practicing chartered accountant, serving clients across industries. Alongside, she also served as a visiting faculty in several institutions. At Resource Bridge, Dhana is an Consultant in the CFO Practice, where she has worked with Saroja on several of the key CFO mandates.


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Saroja is a merit-ranking ICWA and is the Lead for the CFO Practice. Coming from an industrial family, she initally worked in the family business focused on automotive forgings. Later, she set up Resource Bridge along with Ram and grew it from infancy. Just over the last few years, she has led 40+ CFO engagements for a variety of clients, and has one of the best networks within the CFO Community, not only in India but outside too. She brings extensive experience in Retail, FMCG and Manufacturing sector.


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Rachana is an MBA with prior work experience at Reliance Industries for 8 years. In her last role at Reliance, Rachana was the Product Manager for theย  $55M Benzene and Xylene portfolio, with responsibility over sales, commercial and client management. Later she was at Sizer Metals, a base metal trading firm, working on hedging, supply chain and account management. At Resource Bridge, she is a Sr Associate in the CFO Practice and has worked with Saroja, the CFO Practice Lead, in delivering key mandates.


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Mona leads the BD & New Client Engagement function at Resource Bridge and is responsible for all client development activities for the firm. She comes from a marketing and brand promotions background, having worked in the marketing function at Matsushita. Mona has done her full-time MBA.


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