Chris Sinclair, founder & chairman of Scandent Group, which operates in the IT services & BPO space, and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Pepsi-Cola Co has strong India connections.
For starters, he spent the better part of his childhood in India. He schooled in Mumbai and later at the International School at Kodaikanal between the ages of 2-11 courtsey Sinclair Sr who was in India those days as head of Esso. (Will his prior knowledge of the country help Sinclair to operate in India?)
Decades later, it was under Sinclair’s watch that Pepsi famously entered India. And it was he who recruited Indra Nooyi, who is currently president & CFO at Pepsi.
Does he think Indians make good global managers? “Yes,” he says. “Put aside their creativity, intelligence and all of those things of which there is a reservoir here. I think their drive, creativity and adaptability sets them apart. They are much less rigid, much more accepting of diversity. It is the passion to achieve that separates them.”
He goes on to elaborate, “IT has been an obvious growth area for India but when you think about the potential for management talent coming out of here, that’s enormous. I don’t see where else you could find a bigger reservoir of talent.”
PepsiCo Inc. is in line to get its first female chief executive before the end of the year. Steven S. Reinemund, chairman and CEO of the U.S. soft drink and snack food giant, announced his retirement via press release effective in May, 2007. Reinemund, 58, said he was leaving to spend more time with his family.

The same PepsiCo release confirmed that Indra Nooyi, currently president and CFO, will take over for Reinemund. Nooyi's current position will be split in two. The first is scheduled to be filled by Richard Goodman, 57, currently CFO of PepsiCo International, who will become CFO. Hugh Johnston, 44, currently senior vice president of transformation, was promoted to the newly created post of executive vice president of operations, procurement and information technology.

Nooyi, 50, is a Yale-educated daughter of a middle class Indian family, according to her official biography. She is scheduled to succeed Reinemund, in October, the company said. Reinemund reportedly will stay with PepsiCo until May, 2007. Together, Nooyi and Reinemund have guided PepsiCo through several large take-overs and has seen the company overtake The Coca-Cola Company both in terms of sales and market value. 

Coca-Cola is still the No. 1 soft drink maker based on U.S. and global market share. A significant portion of PepsiCo's sales revenue comes from non-drink brands in its Frito-Lay and Quaker Oats product lines.

Some on Wall Street were surprised by Reinemund's retirement announcement, according to news reports. Monday, the  stock (ticker:PEP) closed up $0.62 at $63.95 per share on the NYSE.