Principal Engineer - GSK | London Business School | Ex - Tata Croma | Ex - Capgemini | Ex-TCSer | The IET Mumbai LN | Marathon Runner | Microsoft certified Pro
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Why so many global CEOs are Indian is the wrong question. The real question is what kind of system produces them.
This isn’t about Indians being genetically smarter or IITs magically creating genius. It’s only about selection pressure. India is not a talent factory. India is a high-pressure talent filter.
Most Indians are born into middle class or lower middle class families. There is no safety net, no fallback plan, no cushion. From the day you’re born there is an unspoken contract. Do well or the whole family stays stuck.
Education isn’t optional. It’s survival, now add population. Five to ten lakh people fighting for a few thousand seats. Even after years of preparation, effort doesn’t guarantee success. You still have to win against insane odds.
What comes out of this system is not creativity. It’s endurance. People who can sit for long hours, delay gratification for a decade, operate under pressure without breaking, and don’t feel entitled to comfort.
That profile matters - Large global companies don’t reward raw brilliance at the top. They reward people who can survive complexity, politics, scale, and boredom for 20 to 30 years straight.
That’s why Indian origin leaders show up disproportionately in operator roles. CEOs, presidents, heads of massive systems, not founders.
They didn’t rise because they were the loudest or flashiest. They rose because they had already been trained by a brutal system that rewards consistency over brilliance.
Compare that to a child born in a developed country. There is pressure, yes. But there is also a safety net. More options. Less existential fear. That environment is great for creativity and risk taking. It produces founders and innovators.
India produces survivors who become operators. That’s the difference most people miss. And let’s be clear, this system is not something to romanticize.
For every one person who makes it, millions burn out. Talent gets wasted. Mental health gets crushed. The system is inefficient and cruel. But it does one thing extremely well. It filters for people who can endure.
That’s why Indians don’t dominate early stage innovation globally, but they dominate long-run leadership in established systems.
So no, Indians aren’t exceptional because of IQ. They’re exceptional because they were never allowed to be comfortable.
The uncomfortable question is not why this works. The real question is whether this is the only way we should be producing leaders. And whether the cost is worth it.
-Jasveer Singh