Arvind Krishna

Arvind Krishna
Born	(1962-11-23) November 23, 1962 West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh, India
Occupation	Business executive
Years active	1990–present
Known for	Chairman and CEO of IBM

Arvind Krishna (born November 23, 1962) is an Indian-American corporate leader currently holding the positions of chairman and CEO at IBM. He assumed the role of CEO in April 2020 and was appointed chairman in January 2021. Krishna began his career at IBM in 1990 at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center and advanced to senior vice president in 2015, managing divisions including IBM Cloud, Cognitive Software, and IBM Research. He was a principal architect behind IBM's acquisition of Red Hat, marking the company's largest purchase to date.

Early life and education

Krishna hails from a Telugu family in West Godavari District, Coastal Andhra, Andhra Pradesh, India. His father, Major General Vinod Krishna, served in the Indian Army, while his mother, Aarathi Krishna, was involved with welfare programs for Army widows. He completed his schooling at Stanes Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu and St Joseph's Academy, Dehradun.

He obtained a Bachelor of Technology degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 1985 and earned a Doctor of Philosophy in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1991.

Professional career

Krishna started at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center in 1990, dedicating 18 years to research before transitioning into a General Manager position within IBM’s Information Management software and systems technology group. In 2015, he was elevated to senior vice president overseeing IBM Research, subsequently leading the cloud and cognitive software sectors.

He significantly contributed to broadening IBM’s capabilities in areas such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, quantum technologies, and blockchain technology. Krishna played a pivotal role in orchestrating IBM's $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat, finalized in July 2019.

Taking over as CEO of IBM effective April 2020, following his January appointment, he succeeded Ginni Rometty. His leadership places him among prominent Indian-American executives heading major U.S. technology corporations alongside figures like Satya Nadella, Shantanu Narayen, and Sundar Pichai. In 2021, he earned recognition from CRN as the "Most Influential Executive" of that year.

Krishna also holds membership in The Business Council.

Research

With a portfolio including 15 co-authored patents, Krishna has served as an editor for journals published by both the IEEE and the ACM. He has also contributed extensively to scholarly technical publications.

Personal life

Residing in Connecticut, Krishna is married and has two children.

See also

• Indians in the New York City metropolitan area

External links

• Arvind Krishna – Forbes