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Three Indian-origin executives, Jay Puri, Nikesh Arora, and Thomas Kurian, are among the 11 names emerging in the race to succeed Jensen Huang as Nvidia CEO. With the chipmaker weighing internal and external candidates, could one of them take charge of the AI giant?
After Jensen Huang lost his job at Nvidia – all credit to his three extramarital affairs – the chipmaker company is now looking for a replacement. Huang resigned on Thursday (November 12) after it was revealed that he was having an affair with an alleged Chinese spy. Days later, it was found he was having affairs with two other women.
The company said its board is open to insider and outsider candidates to take on the daunting task of succeeding the man who transformed Nvidia into an AI powerhouse.
Among 11 major candidates, there are three Indian-origin names on the list.
Let’s have a look.
Indian-origin executives in Nvidia CEO succession race
Three Indian-origin executives have emerged as potential contenders to succeed Jensen Huang as Nvidia CEO: Jay Puri, Nikesh Arora and Thomas Kurian.
Their names feature in the succession discussion as the company considers both internal and external candidates.
The succession process comes after Nvidia appointed CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO after Huang’s departure.
Here are the Indian candidates.
Jay Puri: NVIDIA’s official biography identifies Jay Puri as its former Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations. He joined the company in 2005 and was responsible for its global business, including sales, business development, partner alliances, engineering, programme management and support services.
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NVIDIA’s official biography identifies Jay Puri as its former Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations. Image courtesy: @harriet58613/X
His tenure coincided with Nvidia’s transformation into a major player in accelerated computing and generative AI.
Puri brought substantial experience from outside Nvidia as well. Before joining the chipmaker, he spent 22 years at Sun Microsystems, holding senior positions in sales, marketing and general management. He also worked at Hewlett-Packard, Booz Allen & Hamilton and Texas Instruments.
His academic qualifications include an electrical engineering degree from the University of Minnesota, a master’s degree from Caltech and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Nikesh Arora: Arora, chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks, is among the external names being discussed for Nvidia’s top job. Arora has led Palo Alto Networks since 2018 and overseen its expansion into AI-powered cybersecurity.
Arora, chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks, is among the external names being discussed for Nvidia’s top job. AFP
Arora has held senior leadership positions at some of the world’s biggest technology companies. Before joining Palo Alto Networks, he served as president and chief operating officer of SoftBank. He also spent a decade at Google, where he held senior commercial positions, including chief business officer.
His career combines experience in enterprise technology, international business, sales and investment.
Thomas Kurian: Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, is another Indian-origin executive whose name has surfaced in the Nvidia succession discussion. Kurian has extensive experience in enterprise technology and cloud computing. Before joining Google Cloud in 2018, he spent 22 years at Oracle, eventually becoming president of product development.
He took over as head of Google Cloud in 2019 and oversees cloud infrastructure, enterprise software and artificial intelligence services.
Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, is another Indian-origin executive whose name has surfaced in the Nvidia succession discussion. AFP
His experience is relevant to Nvidia because Google Cloud is a major player in AI infrastructure and works closely with the chipmaker. Kurian’s leadership gives him an understanding of large enterprise customers and the technology requirements of companies investing in AI computing.
Fortune reported that Dan Ives considers Kurian one of the three strongest external candidates for the position, along with Tim Cook and Nikesh Arora.
Meanwhile, other names are:
Ian Buck: Nvidia’s Vice President and General Manager of Hyperscale and High-Performance Computing is considered a strong internal contender. He joined the company in 2004 and helped develop CUDA, the software platform that enabled general-purpose computing on Nvidia’s graphics processors.
Nvidia’s Vice President and General Manager of Hyperscale and High-Performance Computing is considered a strong internal contender. Image courtesy: @jamescal2026/X
His work helped Nvidia expand beyond gaming graphics chips into AI computing. He also works closely with major customers on the company’s AI hardware and software products.
René Haas: The CEO of British chip designer Arm Holdings is an external contender with previous experience at Nvidia. He spent seven years at Nvidia, rising to become vice president and general manager of its computing products business, before joining Arm in 2013.
He became Arm’s CEO in 2022 and oversaw its Nasdaq listing in 2023. His experience in semiconductor technology and public-company leadership makes him an interesting candidate.
Fortune reported that Shay Boloor, chief market strategist at The Futurum Group, favours Haas if Nvidia chooses an external candidate.
The CEO of British chip designer Arm Holdings is an external contender with previous experience at Nvidia. AFP
Explaining his assessment in a post on X, Boloor wrote, “He spent seven years at Nvidia and understands Jensen’s culture.” He also highlighted the relevance of Arm’s processor architecture to Nvidia’s Grace and Vera CPUs.
Pat Gelsinger: The former Intel CEO brings decades of semiconductor engineering and management experience. He began his career at Intel at 18 and spent 30 years at the company, eventually becoming its first chief technology officer. He later led VMware at Broadcom before returning to Intel as CEO in 2021. But he left Intel in 2024 after fewer than four years, following difficulties in executing its turnaround strategy.
The former Intel CEO brings decades of semiconductor engineering and management experience. He began his career at Intel at 18 and spent 30 years at the company, eventually becoming its first chief technology officer. AFP
His experience spans both chip design and manufacturing, areas relevant to Nvidia’s business.
Lisa Su: The AMD CEO has led one of Nvidia’s biggest competitors since 2014. She oversaw AMD’s turnaround, strengthening its position in processors and establishing it as a challenger in AI chips. Su and Huang are distant relatives and were both born in Taiwan.
But moving to Nvidia would mean leaving a company she has spent years rebuilding. Axios also noted that she might prefer competing against a weakened Nvidia rather than taking over the company.
The AMD CEO has led one of Nvidia’s biggest competitors since 2014. She oversaw AMD’s turnaround, strengthening its position in processors and establishing it as a challenger in AI chips. Su and Huang are distant relatives and were both born in Taiwan. AFP
Matt Murphy: The CEO of Marvell Technology is has led the custom chipmaker since 2016, transforming it from a storage-focused company into a major supplier of data-centre, networking and AI infrastructure technology.
Marvell works closely with Nvidia while also developing custom chips for cloud companies seeking to reduce their dependence on Nvidia processors. Before joining Marvell, Murphy spent more than 20 years at Maxim Integrated.
The CEO of Marvell Technology is has led the custom chipmaker since 2016, transforming it from a storage-focused company into a major supplier of data-centre, networking and AI infrastructure technology. Image courtesy: @zubiqo/X
Johny Srouji: Apple’s chief hardware officer is another potential candidate. He oversees the engineering of Apple’s hardware, including processors, cellular modems, displays, cameras and batteries. Srouji joined Apple in 2008 to lead development of the main processor for the iPhone.
His work subsequently contributed to Apple Silicon, the company’s in-house chip family used across its devices. Before Apple, he held senior processor design positions at Intel and IBM.
Apple’s chief hardware officer is another potential candidate. He oversees the engineering of Apple’s hardware, including processors, cellular modems, displays, cameras and batteries. AFP
Tim Cook: The former Apple CEO has emerged as a potential candidate after US President Donald Trump publicly suggested that he should take over Nvidia. Cook succeeded Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011 and led the company for 15 years before becoming executive chairman in September 2026.
During his tenure, Apple’s market capitalisation increased from around $350 billion to $4.5 trillion. His experience managing global supply chains, international relationships and a major technology company could be relevant to Nvidia.
The former Apple CEO has emerged as a potential candidate after US President Donald Trump publicly suggested that he should take over Nvidia. AFP
Chris Malachowsky: Nvidia’s co-founder, who established the company alongside Huang in 1993, is another internal possibility mentioned by Axios. He helped shape Nvidia’s technology over three decades, with experience in engineering and technical leadership.
Nvidia’s official biography describes him as instrumental in driving the company’s core technologies as it developed from a startup into a global leader in accelerated computing.
Madison Huang: Jensen Huang’s daughter has emerged as a possible long-term successor. She is a senior director working on product marketing for Nvidia’s physical AI business and has been described as a rising star within the company.
Her brother Spencer Huang and her brother-in-law Nico Caprez also work at Nvidia. But Axios noted that the family members hold relatively junior positions compared with the company’s more experienced executives.
Huang himself said that his children would have to earn the position rather than inherit it.
With input from agencies
