Gautam Thapar is Chairman & CEO of India's foremost diversified corporation, the Avantha Group.

Gautam began his education at the prestigious Doon School, where he imbibed a liberal education based on the ideals of secularism, discipline and equality. After studying chemical engineering in the U.S.A., he returned to India and started his career as a factory assistant in one of the organisation's manufacturing companies. He rose steadily and steered the organisation through a strategic and visionary turnaround, involving resilience and restructuring, ensuring that the Group attained dominant status in key operating sectors. Gautam became Group Chairman on 1st July 2006. He sits on the boards of various companies in India and overseas. In 2008, Gautam received the coveted Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Manufacturing.

One of India's youngest and brightest global business leaders, Gautam is widely recognised and acknowledged for his thought leadership. He has been appointed Board Member of the National Security Advisory Board, a key component of the National Security Council of India, the apex agency looking into the nation’s political, economic, energy and strategic security concerns.

Keen on giving back to society, Gautam takes his social responsibilities very seriously. This is manifested in his involvement across three sectors: education, leadership development and sports. He is President of Thapar University, one of the top twenty technical schools in India. He is Chairman of The Aspen Institute India, which aims to internationalize India's business, political and cultural leadership. He is President of All India Management Association (AIMA), the apex body of professional management in India. He also takes an avid interest in promoting the game of golf, and is President of the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI).