Neal Mohan, an Indian-American executive and a long time Google and YouTube executive, has been appointed the new CEO of YouTube. Mohan is joining an elite list of Indian-origin tech chiefs, which includes Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, IBM’s Arvind Krishna and Adobe’s Shantanu Narayen.

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Mohan will replace Susan Wojcicki, YouTube’s outgoing CEO, who had been with the parent company Alphabet Inc for nearly 25 years. “When I joined YouTube nine years ago, one of my first priorities was bringing in an incredible leadership team. Neal Mohan was one of those leaders, and he’ll be the SVP and new head of YouTube,” said Wojcicki in a letter. Since 2015, Neal Mohan has held the position of chief product officer at YouTube. Before that, he worked at Google, the online search giant, which he joined in 2008.

Here are four things to know about Neal Mohan:

Education: The Stanford University-educated Mohan, 49, is an Arjay Miller Scholar and has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Management in addition to a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, also from Stanford University.

Early roles: In 1996, Mohan commenced his career at Accenture before moving on to join NetGravity, a startup that was subsequently bought by an Internet advertising company named DoubleClick in 2002. Google acquired DoubleClick in 2008.

Role at Google: From 2008 to 2015, Mohan was in charge of Google’s display and video advertising business, where he led the development of advertising products for YouTube, Google Display Network, AdSense, AdMob, and DoubleClick ad tech products. During this time, he created advertising solutions for media partners and advertisers that fueled the expansion of the online media industry, consumer internet, and mobile app ecosystem.

Role at YouTube: Mohan “became YouTube’s Chief Product Officer in 2015. Since then, he has set up a top-notch product and UX team, played pivotal roles in the launch of some of our biggest products … and has led our Trust and Safety team, ensuring that YouTube lives up to its responsibility as a global platform,” stated Wojcicki.

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“Thank you, [Susan Wojcicki]. It’s been amazing to work with you over the years. You’ve built YouTube into an extraordinary home for creators and viewers. I’m excited to continue this awesome and important mission. Looking forward to what lies ahead…,” tweeted Mohan, following the announcement.

Here is a list of top Indian-origin CEOs:

  1. Sundar Pichai – CEO, Google LLC & Alphabet Inc: The Madurai-born, 47-year-old IIT Kharagpur graduate started his career with Google in 2004 and rose to the position of CEO in 2015. He was eventually appointed the CEO of Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google, in December 2019.
  2. Satya Nadella – CEO, Microsoft: Once responsible for building and running Microsoft’s computing platforms, Hyderabad-born Satya Nadella became the CEO of Microsoft, succeeding Steve Ballmer in 2014. A BE from Manipal Institute of Technology, MS from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, he also succeeded John W Thompson to become the Chairman of Microsoft in 2021.
  3. Parag Agrawal – CEO, Twitter: After Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down from his role, IIT-Bombay graduate Parag Agrawal was named the chief executive of the firm in November 2021.
  4. Arvind Krishna – CEO, IBM Group: An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, Arvind Krishna has been with IBM for over two decades. He replaced Virginia Rometty as CEO of the IBM Group in January 2020.
  5. Shantanu Narayen – CEO, Adobe Inc: Born in Hyderabad, Shantanu Narayen started his career at Apple and joined Adobe in 1998. He got promoted to CEO in December 2007 at the age of 45.
  6. Jayshree Ullal – CEO, Arista Networks: Born in London and raised in New Delhi, Jayshree Ullal is the CEO of Arista Networks since 2008.
  7. George Curian – CEO, NetApp: Born in Kottayam district of Kerala and educated at IIT Madras, George Curian became the Chairman and CEO of NetApp in June 2015.
  8. Rajeev Suri – CEO, Nokia Inc; Born in New Delhi and raised in Kuwait, Rajeev Suri was named the CEO of Nokia Inc in April 2014. In 2020, he gave way to its new CEO, Pekka Lundmark, and joined Inmarsat as CEO effective from March 1, 2021.
  9. Ajaypal Singh Banga – CEO, Mastercard; Born to retired Indian Lieutenant General Harbhajan Singh Banga, Ajay began his business career with Nestlé in 1981 and joined Mastercard in the 1990s. He was appointed President and CEO of Mastercard in July 2010 and remained in office till December 31, 2020.