Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: AT a time when the Donald Trump-led US administration is tightening H-1B visa rules, two major American companies on September 23 bucked the trend by promoting India-born leaders to top positions, according to a report of India Today.
T-Mobile, the US telecom giant, will see Srinivas “Srini” Gopalan, 55, step into the CEO role on November 1. Gopalan, an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, currently serves as T-Mobile’s Chief Operating Officer and will succeed Mike Sievert, who has led the company since 2020 and moves to the newly created position of vice chairman. Gopalan’s career spans continents and industries.
At T-Mobile, he has overseen the Technology, Consumer, and Business divisions, spearheading initiatives in 5G, AI, and digital transformation. Sievert called Gopalan “highly skilled, passionate, and incredibly knowledgeable,” adding that he had full confidence in Gopalan’s ability to “take our employee and customer experience to the next level.”
Chicago-based beverage giant Molson Coors named Rahul Goyal, 49, as its new president and CEO, effective October 1. Goyal, who succeeds Gavin Hattersley (remaining in an advisory role through the end of the year), has been with the company for 24 years.
A native of India, he studied engineering in Mysore before moving to the US for business studies in Denver, and has worked across Coors and Molson brands in the US, UK, and India. These appointments come amid rising political scrutiny over foreign-born employees, whom MAGA hardliners sometimes portray as “globalists” taking American jobs. Indian-origin leaders continue to head some of America’s most influential companies, following in the footsteps of Satya Nadella at Microsoft, Sundar Pichai at Alphabet, and others in Fortune 500 firms.
