Alok Agarwal

Alok Agarwal is a senior advisor within the International pillar at the Milken Institute and a transformational leader with a distinguished career spanning four decades as a senior finance professional and banker. He has played a pivotal role in defining the success of the Reliance Group through his management of the group’s financial resources, banking relationships, and capital market transactions for over two decades, as well as by establishing robust governance and risk management programs. Agarwal brings excellent leadership capability and management skills, as well as a strong ability to drive decision-making. He collaborates with both internal and external stakeholders, including the promoters and the board, to drive the organization’s vision, strategy, and growth.

Agarwal joined Reliance Industries Limited in 1993 as treasurer and was appointed chief financial officer (CFO) in 2007. During his more than 15 years as CFO, Reliance grew from assets of $25 billion and a market capitalization of $45 billion to an asset base of over $200 billion and a market capitalization of nearly $250 billion, becoming one of the top 50 companies globally. In this period, Reliance incubated two major global-scale businesses of telecom and retail and made major investments in its core energy business. Agarwal was responsible for managing and financing these investments, and implementing a world-class governance framework. He has also received personal recognition as the best CFO in Asia. 

Agarwal and his wife, Shobha, are deeply passionate about giving and have set up a private nonprofit foundation to support the education of young girls from underprivileged communities. Agarwal holds a postgraduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management–Ahmedabad and a bachelor of technology in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. Prior to joining Reliance Industries Limited, he was with Bank of America for 12 years.