The most successful IITians include Sundar Pichai (IIT Kharagpur), Raghuram Rajan (IIT Delhi), Deepinder Goyal (IIT Delhi), Narayana Murthy (IIT Kanpur), Chetan Bhagat (IIT Delhi), Sachin Bansal (IIT Delhi), Nandan Nilekani (IIT Bombay), Rohit Bansal (IIT Delhi), Manohar Parrikar (IIT Bombay) and actor Jitendra Kumar (IIT Kharagpur).
The Indian Institutes of Technology are known for producing engineers, but their alumni have gone on to run global companies, central banks, state governments and even hit web series. This list picks ten names from very different fields.
We have updated it with what each person is doing in 2026.
Quick facts: the 10 IITians on this list
| Name | IIT | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| Sundar Pichai | Kharagpur | CEO, Alphabet and Google |
| Raghuram Rajan | Delhi | Former RBI Governor |
| Deepinder Goyal | Delhi | Zomato founder |
| NR Narayana Murthy | Kanpur | Infosys co-founder |
| Chetan Bhagat | Delhi | Author |
| Sachin Bansal | Delhi | Flipkart co-founder |
| Nandan Nilekani | Bombay | Infosys chairman, Aadhaar |
| Rohit Bansal | Delhi | Snapdeal co-founder |
| Manohar Parrikar | Bombay | Former Defence Minister |
| Jitendra Kumar | Kharagpur | Actor |
The 10 most successful IITians
1. Sundar Pichai, IIT Kharagpur
Pichai studied metallurgical engineering at IIT Kharagpur, then went to Stanford and Wharton. He joined Google in 2004 and led products like the Chrome browser, Chrome OS and Google Drive.
He became CEO of Google in 2015 and CEO of its parent company Alphabet in December 2019. He received the Padma Bhushan in 2022.
2. Raghuram Rajan, IIT Delhi
Rajan studied electrical engineering at IIT Delhi, did his MBA at IIM Ahmedabad and earned a PhD from MIT. He was chief economist at the International Monetary Fund from 2003 to 2006.
He served as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from September 2013 to September 2016. He now teaches finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
3. Deepinder Goyal, IIT Delhi
Goyal co-founded Foodiebay in 2008 with Pankaj Chaddah. It was renamed Zomato and grew into one of India’s biggest food delivery companies, listing on the stock market in 2021. The parent company is now called Eternal Ltd, which also owns Blinkit.
In January 2026, Goyal stepped down as Group CEO of Eternal and moved to the role of Vice Chairman. Blinkit’s Albinder Dhindsa took over as Group CEO.
4. NR Narayana Murthy, IIT Kanpur
Murthy did his master’s degree at IIT Kanpur. In 1981 he co-founded Infosys with six colleagues, and the company became the symbol of India’s IT services boom.
He served as chairman and later as chairman emeritus. He has received both the Padma Shri and the Padma Vibhushan.
5. Chetan Bhagat, IIT Delhi
Bhagat studied mechanical engineering at IIT Delhi and later went to IIM Ahmedabad. He worked as an investment banker before turning to writing.
His first novel, Five Point Someone (2004), was loosely adapted into 3 Idiots. Books like 2 States and Half Girlfriend also became films, which is why he is one of India’s best selling English authors. For more on books turned into films, see our Bollywood section.
6. Sachin Bansal, IIT Delhi
Sachin Bansal studied computer science at IIT Delhi and co-founded Flipkart with Binny Bansal in 2007. It started as an online bookstore run from a Bengaluru apartment.
Walmart bought a majority stake in Flipkart in 2018. Bansal then founded Navi, a financial services company.
7. Nandan Nilekani, IIT Bombay
Nilekani studied electrical engineering at IIT Bombay and was one of the co-founders of Infosys. From 2009 he led the Unique Identification Authority of India, which built Aadhaar.
He returned to Infosys as non-executive chairman in 2017 and still holds that role. He is also a key voice behind India’s digital public infrastructure.
8. Rohit Bansal, IIT Delhi
Rohit Bansal co-founded Snapdeal in 2010 with Kunal Bahl. It was one of the early big names in Indian e-commerce.
The two also run Titan Capital, which has backed many Indian startups.
9. Manohar Parrikar, IIT Bombay
Parrikar studied metallurgical engineering at IIT Bombay. He served as Chief Minister of Goa several times and was India’s Defence Minister from 2014 to 2017.
He was known for his simple lifestyle. He died on 17 March 2019 while serving as Goa’s Chief Minister.
10. Jitendra Kumar, IIT Kharagpur
Jitendra Kumar studied civil engineering at IIT Kharagpur and started acting in college plays. He became famous through The Viral Fever’s sketches and web series.
He plays Jeetu Bhaiya in Kota Factory, whose third season came on Netflix in June 2024, and Abhishek Tripathi in Panchayat on Prime Video, which released its fourth season in June 2025. Explore more shows in our series section.
Other IITians worth knowing
The list could easily be longer. Arvind Krishna, chairman and CEO of IBM, studied at IIT Kanpur. Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks, studied at IIT BHU in Varanasi. Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, a co-founder of Sun Microsystems, is an IIT Delhi graduate.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the most successful IITian?
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, is the name most often given. Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani of Infosys are also top picks.
Which IIT did Sundar Pichai study at?
He studied metallurgical engineering at IIT Kharagpur.
Which actor is an IIT graduate?
Jitendra Kumar, star of Panchayat and Kota Factory, graduated in civil engineering from IIT Kharagpur.
Is Deepinder Goyal still CEO of Zomato?
No. In January 2026 he stepped down as Group CEO of Eternal, Zomato’s parent, and became Vice Chairman. Albinder Dhindsa is now Group CEO.
Sources: Entrackr: Deepinder Goyal steps down as Eternal Group CEO, Wikipedia: Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia: Raghuram Rajan.
