India (Commonwealth Union)_ Across the broad world of technology, a subtle but strong revolution has been taking form, led by Tamil Nadu minds. From the bustling streets of Chennai to the academic corridors of IIT Madras, Tamil-origin inventors have risen to run some of the world’s largest corporations and develop game-changing technologies that influence how billions of people live and work. Their experiences are unique, yet they all share a common theme: tenacity, curiosity, and the notion that knowledge has no bounds. For years, Tamil engineers have been an unnoticed presence in Silicon Valley. But today, they are leading from the front. Let’s look at some of the brightest minds from Tamil Nadu who are revolutionizing the tech world.
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Girish Mathrubootham, founder and CEO of Freshworks
Girish Mathrubootham, the founder and CEO of Freshworks, transformed his humble beginnings in Trichy into a billion-dollar software success story. Mathrubootham, a pioneer in the “Software as a Service” (SaaS) area, created Freshworks as an accessible cloud-based platform that enables businesses to better manage clients. What began as a startup in Chennai’s suburbs has grown into a global enterprise with over 66,000 consumers. Many of Freshworks’ early employees have gone on to found their own ventures, a ripple effect that has turned Chennai into one of India’s fastest-growing startup ecosystems.
Revathi Advaithi, CEO of Flex
Revathi Advaithi, CEO of Flex, a Fortune 500 manufacturer, is one of the most inspiring Tamil-origin leaders. Advaithi, a mechanical engineer by training, took over Flex in 2019 and has subsequently led the company to long-term success. Her leadership emphasizes responsible manufacturing, workplace diversity, and India’s rising status as a global manufacturing powerhouse. She has pushed to integrate India into the global electronics value chain, employing government initiatives such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) program. For many young Tamil engineers, her ascension is both inspirational and symbolic, demonstrating that leadership transcends location and gender.
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Vivek Ravishankar, co-founder of HackerRank
From Trichy’s classrooms to Silicon Valley’s code floors, Vivek Ravishankar, co-founder of HackerRank, has transformed how software developers are assessed and employed. HackerRank allows hackers to demonstrate their skills by solving real-world challenges, rather than relying on grades or traditional resumes. Over the last decade, over 20 million developers have participated in HackerRank challenges, and over 2,000 global firms, including Amazon, Apple, and Quora, have used it to acquire talent. Ravishankar’s purpose is personal: to ensure that opportunities are based on skill rather than background. His work has opened up various international opportunities for Indian programmers.
Maharishi, Supernova AI
Maharishi, a rising star from Tamil Nadu, is recognized for launching Supernova AI, an app that teaches English in Tamil. Maharishi, an IIT Madras graduate, intended to assist in overcoming the language divide among rural students. Supernova AI, founded in 2021, employs artificial intelligence to make language learning conversational and natural while preserving the Tamil cultural context. Competing with global AI learning platforms, Maharishi’s innovation stands out for its emotional intelligence, technology that understands and speaks the language of its learners.
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Ganesh Radhakrishnan, founder of FEKKI.io and Wharfedale
Ganesh Radhakrishnan, based in Chennai, is the founder of FEKKI.io and Wharfedale, companies that are pushing the limits of augmented and virtual reality. Having advised several multinational firms, Ganesh believes the future lies not just in AI but in Quantum + AI, an emerging frontier that could make artificial intelligence think and act more independently. Through collaborations with global research institutions, he is working toward artificial general intelligence (AGI), a field that seeks to give machines the ability to learn and reason like humans.
Arvind Srinivas, founder of Perplexity AI and Comet AI Browser
Arvind Srinivas, the inventor of Perplexity AI and the Comet AI Browser from Chennai, is one of the youngest names on this power list. At the age of 30, he has caught the attention of Silicon Valley’s biggest names. After receiving dual degrees from IIT Madras and obtaining a PhD in Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley, Srinivas worked alongside pioneers at OpenAI before starting his own company. His technologies, which aim to make AI-powered search faster and more intuitive, have been praised as major competitors to Google’s traditional search paradigm. Investors such as OpenAI’s John Schulman recognized his genius early on, and Arvind now represents a new generation of Tamil inventors who are influencing global technology rather than simply participating in it.
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Kavithar Ram Sriram
Kavithar Ram Sriram had previously established himself in Tamil IT leadership even before it became popular. Sriram, a mathematician from Chennai and one of Google’s first investors, was instrumental in the company’s early success. As a former Netscape executive, he saw potential in Google when it was still a nascent notion in 1998. His early belief in innovation, combined with his position on the board of Alphabet, Google’s parent firm, made him one of the few Tamil voices in Silicon Valley during its beginnings.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google
No list of Tamil technology visionaries would be complete without Sundar Pichai. Pichai, who was born in Madurai and raised in Chennai, rose from humble beginnings to become the CEO of Google and Alphabet. With degrees from IIT Kharagpur, Stanford University, and Wharton, Pichai has guided Google through one of its most revolutionary periods, from mobile computing to artificial intelligence. Under his leadership, Alphabet’s market capitalization surpassed $2 trillion by 2025. His attempts to increase Google’s footprint in India, which include a $10 billion “Google for India” campaign, demonstrate his trust in technology’s ability to create social change.
Ashok Elluswamy, head of Tesla’s Autopilot team
Another Tamil trailblazer making headlines in the United States is Ashok Elluswamy, who leads Tesla’s Autopilot team. Elluswamy, a graduate of Anna University and Carnegie Mellon University, was the first engineer employed by Tesla’s AI and Autopilot section. Elon Musk himself attributes much of Tesla’s achievement in self-driving technology to Elluswamy and his team, stating that “there would be no Tesla Autopilot.” His work continues to push the boundaries of what autonomous vehicles are capable of, establishing new benchmarks for automotive innovation.
Yamini Rangan, CEO of HubSpot
Yamini Rangan, CEO of HubSpot, exemplifies the mix of technical expertise and empathic leadership. With over two decades of experience at SAP, Workday, and Dropbox, she is one of the most renowned personalities in SaaS. Rangan, a Tamil Nadu native, bases her leadership style on customer-centric growth and team empowerment through data-driven decisions. The San Francisco Business Times named her one of the Most Influential Women in Business, and she also serves on the board of Splunk, a cybersecurity behemoth.
Swami Sivasubramanian
Swami Sivasubramanian is a key figure in Amazon Web Services, where he spearheads AI and data innovation. As Vice President of Agentic AI and Data, he oversees technologies like DynamoDB, S3, and SageMaker, which power the majority of the modern internet. Swami, a Chennai native with a PhD in computer science, contributed significantly to the creation of intelligent, automated decision-making systems. His recent work in “Agentic AI,” self-operating AI that can perform complex tasks autonomously, could redefine how businesses use technology in the coming decade.
Sridhar Vembu, founder of Zoho Corporation
Sridhar Vembu, the visionary founder of Zoho Corporation. After earning his degrees from IIT Madras and Princeton, Vembu left Silicon Valley to return to rural Tamil Nadu. From a small village near Tenkasi, he built Zoho into a global powerhouse offering software used in over 180 countries. His philosophy, “build locally, serve globally,” challenges the traditional idea that innovation only happens in big cities. By setting up offices in rural India, he has shown that world-class technology can emerge from anywhere.
Shiv Nadar, founder of HCL Technologies
Finally, Shiv Nadar, founder of HCL Technologies, stands as a pioneer of India’s IT revolution. Born in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district, Nadar built one of the country’s first computer hardware companies in the 1970s, laying the foundation for India’s software dominance. Beyond business, he has dedicated his wealth to education and philanthropy through the Shiv Nadar Foundation. Even after stepping down as HCL’s chairman, his legacy continues through his daughter, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, now chairperson of the company.
A legacy rooted in learning
What connects all these remarkable individuals, from the early pioneers to the new AI entrepreneurs, is their deep commitment to learning and their roots in Tamil Nadu’s culture of education. Whether in Chennai’s engineering colleges or America’s top universities, they have carried the same curiosity that once led them to take apart radios, build circuits, and write their first lines of code. Today, Tamil-origin leaders are not just participating in the global tech race; they are shaping its direction. Their journeys remind the world that great innovation can come from any corner and that the spark of curiosity, once lit, can illuminate the entire world.
