Latest / Chief Officer / Ira Bindra, Chief Officer at Reliance Industries: Take Risks on People

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Ira Bindra, Chief Officer at Reliance Industries: Take Risks on People · Chief Officer

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Hi, Ira, how are you? I'm doing good, Tiffany. How are you? It's good
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to see you again. Really good to see you. I'm so delighted to be here
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with you and to welcome you to Chief Officer. It's such an honor to
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have you and to be able to share with everyone your very, very
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inspiring story and
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and all of your insights. I know we always have the best conversations.
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So really excited to have you here today. - Well, I appreciate it. And I
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think the pleasure is all mine. Thank you for having me. - Absolutely.
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Well, let's go ahead and begin. I can't wait for you to be able to share
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with everyone your journey, where you're from, where you grew up and the
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years before your chief officer seat.
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Well, I now feel I'm a global citizen. Tiffany, I think in my
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summary of where I've been, I've probably lived in, I know I've
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lived in four different countries. I've lived in probably eight
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different cities and God knows how many roles and jobs I've had
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in between, but I was born and grew up in India. I did my
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undergrad
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in India as well in Lady Shri Ram College from Delhi University. Then I
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did my master's, my MBA from Maastricht School of Management. And then I
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started my career in GE as an intern and then as, you know, got into a
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full-time role with GE India at the time. So I started my career here.
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And I remember, I think probably week two or week three of being an
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intern, I met
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one of the senior leaders in the elevator and you know I just small talk
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and happen to ask him how long have you been here and he's like well
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I've been here seven years and I in my head I think I rolled my eyes and
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say wow seven years is a long time in one place and you know I spent
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close to 20 years in GE and I loved every single minute of
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those 20 years. So it was a fantastic journey there. To
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till about 2005, I was 2008, I was here in GE in India.
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My last role here from 2005 to 2008 was the actually my
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first quote unquote chief role, not really the ultimate
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seat, but I was the CHRO for GE India and South Asia in
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2008.
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I moved to the US with GE Healthcare and that was four
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weeks before the financial crisis. So in 2008 onwards I
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was in the US in global roles first with GE and then
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2018 is when I moved to Medtronic again in global roles
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and then December of 2024 is
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when I started my current role with Reliance Industries, which is
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headquartered out of Mumbai in India. So it's been a bit of a full
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circle moment for me here. But multiple roles, multiple different
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countries, global geographies, I think I've certainly become a better
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leader, but also a better person and better human being in trying in
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understanding all the culture. So I think I'm very fortunate for all the
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experiences that
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I've been given an opportunity to serve in both in GE Medtronic and now
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certainly in this current role that I have. It's incredible and
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absolutely I can vouch for that global citizen aspect and global
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perspective you bring is so amazing because you're actually based out of
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Minneapolis quite a bit of the year. Yeah so that was Medtronic had got
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me from Houston was my last stop in
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in GE with GE oil and gas and from there I moved to Minneapolis and
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from Minneapolis so I still have a home there and then from
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Minneapolis to Mumbai so I seem to like cities with starting with the
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letter M. It was my water quality healthcare prior to that so I've
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bounced around the world you can say that yes but I always loved
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where I've lived.
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And so when did you first realize that the chief officer role was ahead
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of you and that was something you wanted because you've been the chief
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officer now a couple of times as you mentioned, even back at LEAD. Yeah.
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So I think the first first memory so beyond this role, certainly this
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role was in, I started it in December 2024. So maybe I start with this
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and then go back a little bit. You know,
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I think I realized that this was in front of me when I was very
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fortunate to meet with our chairman, Mr. Mukesh Ambani. This was in
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October or September of 2024, so coming up exactly two years now. And I
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think it was as he talked about the role, as he talked about what he
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wants to do in the organization, his vision, you know, he is truly
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visionary. I think his
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ability to think, scale, his ability to execute. Everything you read
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about him or people say about him is all true. So, you know, I was just
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happy and feeling so fortunate and lucky that I got to sit in front of
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him and have that conversation. But I think when he told me in his
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office that, you know, we would like to have
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for you to have this role. I think I had to pinch myself a little bit
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and saying, oh my god, this is actually happening. So it was very
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exciting because I think when I look at our scale for Reliance, we're
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about $125 billion company, the global we're in everything from
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hydrocarbons to new energy to telecom, retail media. I think for me the
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opportunity to one learn from someone like Mr. Ambani
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understand the legacy that he has built, but also continue to learn new
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industries. Because I've had that good fortune both in GE and in
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Medtronic though most of my career has been in Medtech of how do
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you look at companies that, and organizations that are so complex and
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varied in different aspects that we operate in or different industries
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we operate in. So very exciting.
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You know, you have to take a little bit of a gulp when it happens
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and say, "Wow, this has happened." But I think for me, the very
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first moment if I go all the way back, it was with GE in India
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when that role happened back in 2005. You know, I will not reveal
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my age or date myself, but I was in my late 20s at the time when
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this happened and
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I remember when the president of GE India at the time, Mr. Scott Bayman
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and Bill Conaty and K. Murli, who has recently passed, he was a great
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mentor of mine. When they talked to me about the role, I didn't think I
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was ready. I didn't think it was something that I should be doing. In
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fact, I was supporting the interviews for the role and part of the
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interview panel, interviewing candidates for the role.
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And that's when Scott one day called me into the office and
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said, "Well, we'd like to put you on the slate." I mean, I
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do remember saying to him, "With all your respect, I think
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you've lost your mind." I'm not sure I'm ready to finish
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right now.
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And he said, well, this is one of the reasons why, you know, we are a
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meritocracy and I want to make sure that we get the best of the
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candidates on the slate. I interviewed with several, two or three
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different GE leaders. Bill Conaty was certainly one of them and I was
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offered the role. And I think for me, the reason why that role
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happened was one,
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look, you know, similar to this place, I think the culture in GE at the
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time was all about meritocracy is, you know, it doesn't matter what your
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age is, it doesn't matter what your gender is, we want to get the best
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person in the role. Yes, they did take a huge risk on me. So I think
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that is credit to the company and the leaders who were there, which also
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now having all these years behind me, I think it's a learning I took in
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saying
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you have to take risks on people where you see the talent, where you see
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the raw potential. I think providing those opportunities is how you lift
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people up. And when that role happened, we were actually at a farewell
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dinner for someone is when Scott pulled me aside and told me that you're
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going to get this role. So huge contrast from my current role where I
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was sitting in the office and
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I couldn't, I obviously was very excited both in my current role as well
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as at that time, but I had to hold it inside me for much longer when I
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got the role. And here I could, I had to hold it inside me just for the
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time that I was in his office and then I couldn't.
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kind of go out and mentally at least do a little bit of a happy dance.
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So you did your call right away. Who was the first person you told?
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Well, it's always family, right? So it's always family. And I think not
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only any time there is good news, you know, we all have roles that we
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really wanted and we didn't get. I would say even in those times, it's
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always family that you call first. So I think I
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I know I called my family from certainly when, you know, this current
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role happened with Reliance's. I stepped out, you know, said thank you
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to all him for Mr. Ambani. I'm really excited looking forward to it and
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came out and I called my family. And I think the same thing in GE India.
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I was like, I need to go to the restroom. I stepped out very excitedly.
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called my parents, told them and told my brother and I'm like okay I
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need to go I'll come back and tell you the rest of it and you know I
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dash back in so but even like I said even when there are roles that
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don't work out that you're looking forward to or anything that you're
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looking forward to doing both good and bad to me it's always family and
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then I have two or three really close friends that I have the fortune of
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they're the family I've chosen.
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you know, as they become friends. So friends are the family you choose.
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And then I call them. So I can't call all of them all at the same time.
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But the family are that with a group call now. But then I call them. I
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love that. I love that. And what a beautiful journey you've had and a
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beautiful pattern that's emerged, it seems where you have a
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an incredibly powerful leader who identifies that power in you and the
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impact you can have and and lifts you up and decides like you're the
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one, you're the chief officer. This has happened now twice it seems. I
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would say I've been fortunate that it's happened more than twice. I
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think it's happened multiple times in GE.
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There were multiple leaders, Bill Conaty was one of them, Mike Handley,
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Jack Ryan, Scott Bayman, Kay Murley, I think I can name lots and lots of
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people who've kind of picked me up. And it's not just lifting you up for
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the role. I think it's also lifting you up when look, we're all humans,
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you know, you go through
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good times and tough times. It's also, I know similarly, for example, in
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Medtronic, I would say Omar Ishrak, our previous CEO, Carol Surface, you
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know, Rob Danno, John Liddick, there are lots of people. And then I
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would also say my peers, you know, who I worked with, colleagues I
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worked with, they would lift me up on a daily basis. I think peers give
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you a lot of confidence. They
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they truly build your confidence and I've been very fortunate the teams
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I have. Certainly here as well I think to have the confidence with Mr.
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Ambani and the executive committee and you know his three children with
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Isha and Aamtana Karsh, I think that matters a lot because it makes you
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believe in moments of doubt and I've certainly had that good fortune
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with a lot of them where
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A lot of people have had confidence in me even when I didn't
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have confidence in myself at times. So I think in those moments
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when you're finding your path through certain things, I think
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that's when the support matters a lot. And I think I'm very
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fortunate. I have got lots of people who've--
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supported me, lifted me up, given me confidence, taken chances on
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me. And I think my way of paying it forward, paying it back is to
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pay it forward. So I've been lucky.
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And actually, you
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know, I'm curious when you were in your 20s, especially, I love that
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story. And you were given this huge opportunity in your late 20s to be
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the chief officer in GE. Then what did you first have to believe in
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yourself to finally
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go for it and say yes. To overcome that self-doubt that
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you said kind of sometimes creeps in. Well, I would say I
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think to me saying no was not on the cards. I am going to
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say yes. If the leaders in the organization are showing
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confidence in me, I knew I had a great support system
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around me.
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I had great leaders who were supporting me and they were going to make
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sure that I am successful, I'm set up for success. I think I felt now in
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retrospect, I know I felt that I owe it to them and to myself to do the
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best I can. I have to leave it all out there. I'll give it everything
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I've got. I'll have tons of opportunity to learn. I'll get lots of
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feedback, I'm sure. But
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I didn't want to ever look back and say, "I didn't make enough effort."
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You put in the effort, the results hopefully come through as well, which
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again, I was fortunate enough that they came through, but I had to put
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aside the little bit of the self doubt, to be honest, in saying, "Yes,
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I'm
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I was elevated to the role when I joined as an intern, there were people
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who were competing for the role who were like five levels above me. And
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now suddenly, quote unquote, I was their boss. And I knew they wouldn't
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like it. And I knew there'd be resistance. And I knew there'd be a lot
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of pushback and a lot of resistance to anything I wanted to do.
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When I left the role and went to GE in the US, none of the people in the
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HR team, none of them had quit. They were all there. And every single
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one of them had been promoted to the next level, which was the executive
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band. So for me to kind of go in there knowing there'll be resistance,
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knowing there'll be pushback, but having the support. And as I got
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through the few months and few years and started doing
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things, you know, believing in my conviction and doing things, I think
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confidence keeps going with little by little every little step you take.
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And I feel great about the fact that, you know, they were all there and
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they all continue to thrive and do well. And I was part of the journey
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for them to get educated as well. So I think it's it's believing in
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yourself and in those moments where you do have
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self-doubt, you know, you can have it any single day is also to, you
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know, at times look back and say, what do I know well and focus on what
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you can do well. But at the same time have people around you who do
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either compliment, you know, your weaknesses where they have the
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strengths where you're not as strong. And most importantly, for me, at
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least personally, is to have people around me who will always tell me
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the truth.
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especially in my team and in my colleagues, your leaders certainly do.
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But I think having peers and colleagues and friends and team members who
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tell you the truth, whether you are right or wrong or have a different
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point of view, I think just makes you better. And from an organizational
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perspective, you do much better. So to me, being surrounded by those
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people,
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I think is just really important. It gives me a lot of energy. - Yeah,
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absolutely. I love this. And actually just to clarify for some of our
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listeners today, when I was talking about Ira being so widely admired
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ever, she is, I was referring to the fact that Ira was recently honored
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by Mogul as one of the top 100 people leaders of the year. And Ira and I
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have joked about how when that happens, (static)
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Literally, because I was tagged on the post, I received like thousands
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of notifications that day. So it was extremely popular and, and, and why
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did my artist I was saying, and that's that's how I, sorry, sorry for,
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sorry for jamming your, your mailbox that day, but you know, once in a
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while we all, we all love a little bit of a little bit of attention and
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love and care. So I'll take it. Yeah, absolutely. We love to see that.
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We loved it.
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- And what was your first week like as a chief officer? Whether it was
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here at Reliance your first week, what was it like or at GE India? What
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was it like that first week as a chief officer? I would love to hear. -
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Well, I think my first week here in Reliance, I knew I'm coming into
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something that is really big, that has a fantastic legacy, known for
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their execution, known for their scale.
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And to me, I came in as a student. I know they were, our chairman, Mr.
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Ambani has a very ambitious agenda for us always. He has ambitious
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goals. Like I said, he thinks like nobody else does with the scale and
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his ability to take risk. But I came in saying we are enormously
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successful because our company has done something right.
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It's done something right for decades. And there is learning in that,
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you learn from the past and what has done, what has gone really well.
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And how do you, where do you find the opportunities to take it to the
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next level? Not because it's wrong, but just because there is an
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opportunity and it's a new chapter or it's a new time.
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And I think for me, the first, not only the first week, I would probably
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say the first six months was, I just want to learn. I want to listen. I
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want to learn. I want to figure out what's going on. Of course, I want
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to contribute, but the most important thing is to learn and understand
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not just what people are doing, but why are they doing what they're
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doing. And that I've learned through the multiple transitions I've had
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in my career. I think
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This current role is the result of so many other roles and so many
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other moves that I've had prior that you kind of build a little
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bit of a playbook for yourself when that happens. For me, the
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contrast work, aside from work, was right in the first week that I
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was starting here, my dad was having spinal surgery also in India.
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So I think it was...
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you know, you were torn apart and you go a little bit like the reason
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why certain things happen and you know, to the credit of Mr. Ambani and
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the leadership here, they were like, go focus on your family, go focus
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on your dad and you know, there's enough time to do all the stuff that
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we're going to do. So it very quickly, you know, brought into
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perspective of what's really important in life. Yes, works significantly
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important.
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I'm starting something new, there's energy and enthusiasm around that.
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And then of course you've got, you know, my dad's situation as well,
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he's healthy, it's all good. But I think it's, you know, everything that
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could happen in life was packed into that one week. Absolutely. And how
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powerful to keep things therefore always in perspective? New country,
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new job, new city, you know, and
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My dad's having surgery. Oh, by the way. Absolutely. So much. But you've
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done wonderfully and leading again so beautifully. And it's been
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incredible to see your success. And on that note, as we wrap things up,
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I just was curious about your insights on what's ahead with AI and all
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that's happening in the world. What's your perspective on the future
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of work?
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Well, I would say look very exciting for me. I think we as a generation
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of professionals and leaders are at a time of I think a tipping point
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in history. You know, it's happened many times in the past as well, but
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I think it's such a unique opportunity where we are all figuring out
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the answers together. We're learning from each other.
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Yes, there are a few who are faster learners. They kind of see when you
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look at the tech companies, they can see a little bit more around the
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corners of what is possible. And I think the last two years maybe, or
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even the last six months, the leaps that we are making in technology and
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in the ability of technology to enable work hasn't happened probably in
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the last decade. So to me, it's an exciting time.
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It's an opportunity to create something which I love throughout my
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career to always be a part of building something that outlives you and
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outlives the role that you're in and that's the legacy you want to
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leave. So I think for me that's the really exciting piece in we're
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learning together, we are shaping what the future is going to look like.
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And I think with AI, of course there are questions about
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what's going to be ethical to do, what's practical, what do we need to
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do, etc. I think that question around ethics and how we build it is up
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to us. So we are going to be the ones who shape it and we learn along
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the way. So to me, it's exciting. I think if we talk six months from
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now, Tiffany, I'm sure you know this better than I do. I think it's
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going to look very different than what it does today.
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I'm excited about it. I always love when things change and it allows
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people to grow and expand in ways that we didn't think were possible
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even a few years ago. So I can't wait for what the future is going
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to bring.
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- Same, absolutely. I love that and I completely agree. It's changing so
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much. It's bringing so much excitement and I think it's bringing so much
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excitement to the role of the head of HR especially. I had a friend
21:34
recently, Mahvish, who is the chief people officer as well at a
21:38
subsidiary, Unilever, but she's a friend. She was on chief officer
21:42
recently and said that...
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You know, she's seeing that the head of HR is now having main character
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energy and I love that I think that's very nice and we love to see that
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since we love to spotlight our HR leaders and So my final question to
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you is what advice do you have for that person who's just right there
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about to potentially become the chief officer? What is that advice you
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would give them if they're just one step below?
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Well, I would say, look, if anyone's aspiring to that
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chief officer role, I think being clear on why you want
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that role is important. If you're doing it only for the
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title, if that's the motivation, I think I personally
22:25
feel for me that would run out very quickly.
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because I think it's you've got to be excited about the work, you've got
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to be excited about being able to shape where the organization goes. In
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HR certainly, you know, we've there are times when we've got to deal
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with things that are really tough and they are, you know, it can be a
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really lonely job in any C-suite role, but certainly in HR there are
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things that
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can get pretty tough and pretty lonely. But understanding your
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motivation for why you want to do it, and does that work give you
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energy? Does spending time with people and learning from them give you
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energy? And do you feel energized and motivated by being able to give
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back? To me, these roles are an opportunity to give back and shape.
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Organizations shape the future. So if that is exciting, go for it.
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believe in yourself, have people around you who will not just
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tell you what you want to hear, but what you need to hear as
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well, and have some truth tellers around you because they will
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keep you grounded. But if you have that ambition, go for it.
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Absolutely. Build it on learning, not just on, I want the title.
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If it's based on learning,
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you will succeed, you know, if it's based on anything else, I think
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after a while that sheen wears off pretty quickly. So, but build a
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foundation of learning. I think it's a gradual kind of step up. -
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Absolutely. Thank you so much, Ira. What an inspiration you are. And it
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was so wonderful to hear your story and learn some of the key moments
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that you had throughout your journey to becoming the chief officer.
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- Well, thank you for giving me the opportunity and it's always a
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pleasure to talk to you, but I appreciate for you to give me the
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opportunity to talk a little bit about what shaped me and brought me to
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where I am. - Absolutely, thank you.