Reliance Industries Ltd has earned a distinguished place on the global human resources stage after its President for People and Talent, Ira Bindra, was named among the world’s top Chief Human Resources Officers in the 2025 Leaders40 rankings. Reliance is the only Indian company represented, and Bindra becomes the first Indian woman executive from an Indian firm to appear on the list.
The accolade was announced late on Friday by N2Growth, an internationally regarded executive search and leadership advisory organisation. The 2025 Leaders40 Top CHRO Award acknowledges exemplary leadership in human capital management and features some of the most influential HR leaders across the global industry. This year’s honourees include Lisa Buckingham of Vialto Partners, Matthew Breitfelder of Apollo Global Management, Robin Leopold of JPMorganChase, Christy Pambianchi of Caterpillar Inc., Trisha Conley of LyondellBasell, Maral Kazanjian of Moody’s, and Donna Morris of Walmart.
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Bindra has secured the twenty-eighth position in the global ranking. Her citation praises her as “a global Human Resources and business transformation leader with over two decades of experience driving growth, innovation, and organisational excellence across Fortune 100 companies and high-growth enterprises.” It further notes that “Her career spans multiple industries, geographies, and business lifecycles, where she has led integrated business, people, and culture strategies that enable high performance and sustainable transformation.”
At Reliance, India’s largest private sector enterprise and a Fortune Global 500 company, Bindra works closely with the Chairman, Executive Committee, and senior leadership on strategic culture and talent priorities. According to the citation, “She is leading enterprise-wide talent and culture transformation for Reliance’s 360,000-strong workforce spanning energy, retail, telecommunications, media, and green technologies.”
Before joining Reliance, Bindra held senior global HR positions at Medtronic, the world’s largest medical device manufacturer. She spent nearly two decades at General Electric across multiple business divisions in both advanced and emerging markets, amassing significant expertise in organisational development.
Bindra holds an MBA from the Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands and a BA (Hons.) in History from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University.
First conceived in 2015 on Forbes by N2Growth Founder Mike Myatt, the Top CHRO list has evolved into one of the most influential recognitions in the HR profession. Its partnership with the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2020 elevated it into the formal Leaders40 Award, now considered the preeminent global benchmark for HR leadership.
Reflecting on the evolution of the profession, Tony Morales, Co-Chairman of N2Growth and head of the Leaders40 Selection Committee, remarked: “Over the last decade, we’ve watched the CHRO role transform. The CHROs of today are no longer only people leaders, but have become strategic partners to CEOs and boards, driving performance, culture, and transformation at the highest level.”
The Leaders40 Selection Committee evaluates thousands of nominations and conducts extensive interviews to identify the forty CHROs who exemplify the highest standards of excellence in global HR leadership.
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