The Trailblazer Redefining Indian Tech Leadership

Earlier this week, Roshni Nadar Malhotra skyrocketed to become the third richest Indian after her father, Shiv Nadar, transferred his 47 percent stake in HCL Corp and Vama Delhi to her. But make no mistake, the only child to one of India’s most prominent tech pioneers didn’t sit back and just inherit her success.

Roshni’s ambitions initially lay outside the business world of technology. After completing her undergraduate studies at Northwestern University in the U.S., she pursued an MBA from Kellogg School of Management, focusing on media and entertainment.

With no prior experience in the tech industry, she didn’t inherit a throne

This was followed by brief stints at CNN and Sky News. Despite her impressive credentials at this early stage in her career, the communications graduate was more at home in the world of journalism and media and hardly cut the image of your typical corporate disruptor.

However, in 2009, when her larger-than-life father set his succession plan in motion at HCL Technologies, Roshni made a bold decision to pivot her career. Then, just 27 years old, she wasn’t just stepping into the family business — she was leaving behind a successful media career and the comfort of familiarity to take on an entirely new challenge.

With no prior experience in the tech industry, she didn’t inherit a throne; she strapped herself into the astronaut’s chair, navigating uncharted territory with the weight of a billion-dollar legacy on her shoulders.

Bearing the Weight of Expectations

Being born into a family synonymous with India’s Information Technology (IT) revolution, this could easily have been crushing for any young person let alone Roshni. After all, with her family’s legacy, all eyes were on her when she joined the firm. Industry watchers were buzzing about her capabilities and elan in taking over and leading one day.

And with all high profile successions, there was the usual rabble of naysayers who were not only sceptics but also eagerly anticipating a spectacular fall. Proving the doubters, cynics, and the intractable wrong was a challenging task — what with the weight of the name and family connections getting in the way more than being helpful.

Immediately impressive results highlighted that Roshni could be a worthy successor to her father

She needed to demonstrate nuanced business acumen, an ability to anticipate what was then a insidiously changing technology landscape, deftly balancing financial prudence with a long-term vision for expansion. The company, a US$94 million mega corporation in 2009, needed to pivot in response to changing technology needs borne out of cloud data explosion in the US, Europe and other more mature markets.

The advent of smart devices, Internet penetration and advances in cloud was re-defining how organisations and consumers were deploying technology. Technology services companies like HCL Tech needed to re-position their propositions as data privacy, financial jurisprudence and compliance took centre stage.

The world was in the throes of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and the increased scrutiny from governments, regulators and administrators meant mega corporations like HCL Tech with significant exposure to long-term federal government contracts needed to read the changing winds for transparency and accountability. 

Compounding matters in tandem, was that Roshni’s ascension to chairperson came at a critical juncture for the industry. The tech landscape was rapidly evolving; automation, AI, and cloud computing were reshaping enterprise solutions and putting pressure on firms to keep up with the times or risk becoming obsolete.

Hitting the Ground Running

Since then under Roshni’s dynamic leadership, 2021 saw the firm raise its full-year revenue guidance by between two and three percent and Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Dividend and Amortisation (EBITDA) margin guidance to 21-21.5 percent.

According to HCL Tech’s bookeeepers, that year also saw the company’s annual revenue surpass US$10 billion, and such immediately impressive results highlighted that Roshni could be a worthy successor to her father; capable of taking the company forward in trying times.

However, despite a rebranding exercise in 2022 that saw the company change names from HCL Technologies to HCL Tech, Roshni also embraced measured continuation by doubling down on the firm’s historic commitment to digital transformation — making strategic acquisitions, expanding globally, and remaining deeply committed to research and development (R&D).

Notably, in May last year, HCL Tech acquired select assets from Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s Communications Technology Group for US$225 million, enhancing its telecommunications offerings. Further, in a bid to expand its data management services, HCLTech’s software division completed its acquisition of the French metadata management platform startup Zeenea in September 2024 for €24 million. 

Unlike some second-generation leaders who seek to overhaul and revamp their family’s legacy, Roshni chose the opposite; preserving HCL’s core “ideapreneurship” philosophy which aims to empower employees to drive innovation.

Employees are encouraged to take the initiative in generating innovative solutions and ideas through supporting management processes, as well as technical and organisational systems. This culture of entrepreneurship and innovation has led to significant employee engagement, with platforms like the Achievers’ League recognising the contributions of over 15,000 extraordinary ideapreneurs.

Media Savvy But Media Shy
What’s remarkable is that Roshni has achieved all this while remaining a reserved, media-shy leader. Despite being the recipient of several awards, including France’s highest civilian honour, she prefers to let her work do the talking rather than seeking the spotlight. Roshni’s influence extends far beyond the boardroom, too. She plays a pivotal role in the Shiv Nadar Foundation, which is dedicated to education, rural empowerment, and the arts. 

One of her flagship initiatives, VidyaGyan, provides high-quality education to underprivileged but talented students from rural India, grooming them for leadership roles. For Roshni, corporate social responsibility is not an afterthought, but at the heart of her leadership philosophy.

Within HCL Tech, Roshni’s leadership has seen the company improve women’s representation, with 37.5 percent women directors on its board, 50 percent women in 2024 campus hires, and a 44 percent increase in leadership gender diversity.

The company, today, also has a 99.67 percent return-to-work rate of new mothers, showing that under her direction HCL Tech has instituted an effective post-maternity program, in contrast to many of their competitors in India, per Aon’s Voice of Women Study 2024.

A new IT Leader paradigm

While some may argue that Roshni lacks the flashy, risk-taking persona of typical tech leaders, her measured, values-driven approach has served HCL well. Under her watch, the company has remained one of the industry’s most forward-thinking enterprises, even as it deepens its commitment to sustainable, inclusive growth.

Today, it can lay claim to being the fastest-growing IT Services brand and retains its position as the sector’s eighth most valuable brand, with a 17 percent rise in brand value to USD8.9 billion, according to the Brand Finance IT Services 2025 report.

In a world that often equates success with bold rhetoric, Roshni Nadar Malhotra represents an alternative model of leadership; as one would expect from the first woman to lead a listed Indian IT company. 

Her approach — one grounded in patience, integrity, and social consciousness — underscores the potential for women to occupy top executive positions. As she steers HCL Tech into the future, her story is a testament to the power of graceful, firm leadership, proving that sometimes, the most influential leaders are the ones who let their actions do the talking.