THE FORCE IS WITH ARUNDHATI

TWO AND A HALF YEARS AFTER RETIREMENT, THE FORMER SBI CHAIRMAN STUNNED EVERYONE BY JOINING SILICON VALLEY DARLING SALESFORCE AS ITS INDIA HEAD. NOW COMES THE TOUGH PART— ADAPTING TO A VERY DIFFERENT INDUSTRY AND CULTURE. SHE ALSO HAS A CELEBRITY SUPERBOSS.

- PAVAN LAL

ARUNDHATI BHATTACHARYA

64, CHAIRPERSON AND CEO, SALESFORCE INDIA (7)

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT TAKING UP A NEW CHALLENGE IN ONE’S SIXTIES. IT’S EQUALLYABOUT SPENDING A LIFETIME IN A PUBLIC SECTOR FIRM AND THEN JOINING ONE WITH ITS ROOTS IN SILICON VALLEY. THINK MOZART PLAYING JIMI HENDRIX.

THE AVERAGE AGE at the State Bank of India was around 47; here it’s 30,” says Arundhati Bhattacharya. “It probably went up with me joining.” It was light banter from the 64-year-old and, on the face of it, there’s nothing remarkable about her new role. After all, executives routinely switch jobs, and the average age of employees vary based on size, industry, history, etc. But, from the other side of a Zoom call, Bhattacharya has just revealed one tiny, but telling, part of a saga of reinvention, pluck, and audacity, the likes of which have rarely been seen.

In April, Bhattacharya stunned India Inc. by becoming the India head for Salesforce (the ‘here’ in the opening remarks), the American technology company that specialises in customer relationship management (CRM) software. She was no ordinary recruit. Two and a half years ago, she had retired as chairman, State Bank of India (SBI), after a four-year run (2013-2017).

In that role she had helmed a behemoth, India’s largest bank (HDFC Bank, at No. 2, is less than 40% of SBI’s size by deposits). That automatically made her one of India’s top 10 CEOs, whichever way you cut it. (On Fortune India’s Most Powerful Women in Business lists, she was consistently ranked No. 1 between 2014 and 2017.)