Our Story

India opens up

1995 – 2000

The 1991 reforms unlocked the economy, giving rise to new industries and leadership roles.

We opened in the same window, and the first roles we filled were roles the country had never needed before.

1995 Executive Access begins operations in India, as the Indian arm of a Hong Kong search firm
1995 Placed 20+ executives into the founding team of a global financial services captive, including its CEO. One of India's first offshore centres, and the start of what became the business process outsourcing industry
1997 Opened in Mumbai, following the money to the commercial capital
1999 Appointed the India MD of a global music television network, and worked with a cinema exhibition chain as multiplexes arrived
2000 Appointed the founding CEO of a new private insurance group, the year private players were first allowed into the sector
2000 Placed 40+ executives into a national newspaper group across three years, and opened in Bangalore

The world arrives

2001 – 2010

India became a global base, driving growth across telecom, healthcare, education and professional management.

Almost every one of those transitions ran through a leadership team that did not exist the year before.

2002 Entered healthcare, appointing the CEO of a private hospital network and building its leadership team
2003 Placed 20+ senior leaders into a national telecom operator, enabling the circle-based structure that took mobile telephony nationwide
2003 Entered education, appointing the head of one of India's oldest residential schools, and opened in Chennai
2006 Placed 15 leaders into a global investment bank's India joint venture
2009 Co-founded a global community of leadership experts spanning 20 countries

India goes digital

2011 – 2020

Cheap data and handsets accelerated internet growth and demand for operators.

The scarce role in this decade was not the founder. It was the person brought in to make it work at scale.

2012 Launched our Social Impact Practice, working with a global philanthropic foundation and an impact investment fund
2013 Built a four-year partnership with a global software major, placing 20+ executives including its India President
2015 Built the founding leadership team of a new general insurance company
2016 Placed key leaders into two of India's largest consumer internet companies
2016 Built the leadership team of a listed commodity exchange, including its MD
2018 Closed our first India CEO mandate for a Gulf-headquartered bank, and appointed the CEO of an Indian apparel brand and the MD of a global confectionery company's India business

India builds, and looks outward

2021 – 2026

Manufacturing, electric vehicles and digital finance grew as Indian firms expanded into the Gulf.

For the first time the search was as often for people to bring in from abroad as for people to place at home.

2021 Built the leadership team of a listed non-banking financial company
2022 Appointed the CEO of an electric vehicle technology firm, and brought a senior manufacturing leader from a US electric vehicle major to an Indian battery manufacturer
2022 Senior leaders bought out our overseas investors, making Executive Access a fully India-owned firm
2024 Built the full leadership team of a national insurance marketplace established under a regulatory initiative, including its MD and CEO
2025 Launched Leadership Advisory Services
2026 EA MENA opens in Abu Dhabi  |  Formalised Family Business Practice and Board Practice
1995

Philosophy in Action

The principles that have shaped our journey and continue to guide our work