MNCs see rise in women leaders – The Times of India

BENGALURU: Ten years ago, MNC IT companies boasted six women at the helm. Prominent leaders included Accenture India’s chairman Rekha Menon, IBM’s Vanitha Narayanan, HP’s Neelam Dhawan, Capgemini’s Aruna Jayanthi and Intel’s Kumud Srinivasan. Back then, Meta (Facebook) was headed by Kirthiga Reddy. Several of these leaders managed firms with nearly 100,000 employees.
Fast forward to today. MNCs remain steadfast in their commitment to increasing women leaders at the top. In contrast, despite higher representation of women at entry-level positions, women as leaders are still under-represented in Indian IT firms, with fewer examples at the top. Barring a handful of women in senior leadership roles, Indian IT companies look pale with poor representation of women in the C-suite. Wipro appointed Aparna Iyer as its CFO, while Suzanne Dann is the CEO of Americas 2. Infosys roped in Inderpreet Sawhney as its chief legal officer and chief compliance officer. Data shows that fewer women executives hold top management positions and report to the board in IT firms.

MNCs, including global capability centres (GCCs), are taking the lead in promoting more women to senior leadership positions. India has 1,760 GCCs, with an increased focus on high-value services and ER&D. A Nasscom-Zinnov report showed that over the past five years, global roles in India expanded significantly, with more than 6,500 established positions. Interestingly, this included 1,100 women leaders holding global roles. Zinnov’s data on GCCs showed that at the executive tier, women constitute 6.7% of the total workforce. The mid-level positions, with five-to-eight years of professional experience, are filled by 24.3% of women employees. Senior roles, which demand 9 to 12 years of experience, comprise 15.7% of the female workforce. GCCs employ 1.9 million people out of India’s total tech talent pool of 5.8 million people.
Lalitha Indrakanti, CEO of JLR Technology & Business Services India, said the difference between working in an IT services company and a GCC lies in depth of organisational understanding and expertise one develops over time. “While policies for increasing women leadership pipeline are similar across both, GCCs offer greater stability, allowing women to stay in roles longer without shifting between client projects.”
Karthik Padmanabhan, managing partner in tech consulting firm Zinnov, said the rise of women leaders in GCCs is being driven by structured interventions, targeted mentorship and a deliberate focus on increasing the contribution toward outcomes. “India’s GCCs have been instrumental in accelerating this shift, embedding gender diversity into core talent strategies, while aligning with global leadership frameworks,” he said.
MNCs have led the pack with several policy interventions to nurture promising women executives into senior leadership roles. These firms actively monitor their career advancement through mentorship programmes and encourage them to pursue international opportunities.
Anuprita Bhattacharya, head of Merck IT Center (MITC), IT country head – India, said the growth of women in leadership has been 14.3% over the last five years. “Beyond training and development, we ensure that women at Merck IT Centre gain real exposure – leading initiatives and engaging with influential leaders, both within the organisation and through our industry networks.” Sirisha Voruganti, CEO of Lloyds Technology, said, “Our commitment to foster an inclusive workplace is exemplified through many initiatives, aimed at raising scopes for women.”