R Gopalakrishnan

R Gopalakrishnan, known as Gopal, has been at the top of the corporate world in India for over three decades. Gopal is a former Director of Tata Sons and Vice Chairman of Hindustan Unilever. He has over thirty years of board experience and currently serves as an independent director of listed companies, Castrol India and one of the prominent Sri Lankan conglomerates, Hemas.

Tata Group is a global enterprise from India, comprising operating companies across industries like automotive, software, steel, chemicals and beverages. With a market cap of US$144 bn, the Group is India’s most valued and prestigious business group. Gopal was a key member of the Tata Group Executive Office.
Gopal’s career began in 1967 in the information technology department of Hindustan Lever. Following that he spent a total of 31 years with Unilever (in India, Saudi Arabia and the UK), and 18 years at Tata Sons. Gopal has been appointed as Distinguished Professor of IIT, Kharagpur and Executive-in-Residence at SPJIMR, Mumbai. He is a best-selling author and newspaper columnist in India. His column in Business Standard on governance (The Wise Leader) is widely read. With a passion for experiential learning and people development, he has diverse experience in building organisations and capabilities, thus unlocking peoples’ potential.

With India named as a priority market for many organisations, Gopal is a vital contact for business leaders keen to effectively build organisation capability and encourage new thinking.