Nikesh Arora is the Chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks, a leading global cybersecurity company. He grew up in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.  Arora completed his schooling at The Air Force School, and went on to graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (presently IIT (BHU)) in Varanasi, India, with a Bachelors in Engineering in Electrical Engineering in 1989. He holds a M.S. degree in finance from Boston College and an MBA from Northeastern University. He has held the CFA designation since 1999.

After brief stints at Wipro and Deutsche Telekom, he spent ten years at Google, Inc. as a senior executive, where he was senior vice president and chief business officer, president of global sales operations and business. Before joining Palo Alto Networks in 2018, Mr. Arora served as president and chief operating officer of SoftBank Group Corp. He has been the chairman of Palo Alto Networks since June 2018.

During his tenure of four years, Nikesh has led the company through a major transformation to become the partner of choice for enterprise organizations and governments around the world.  Under his leadership, the company has expanded its cloud security offerings and made strategic acquisitions to bolster its market position. Arora’s leadership philosophy centers on leveraging resources and intellectual capital to drive business expansion and technological advancements.​  His vision emphasizes innovation, and customer-centric solutions in cybersecurity, aiming to increase Palo Alto Networks’ market share. Indiaspora is proud to have Nikesh Arora on our Business Leaders 2.0 List.