Chandrika Tandon

Artistic Genius

Chandrika Tandon who first came to the US at a young age for a job at McKinsey & Company went on to become a partner in the firm and later an independent businesswoman. Her passion for music got her the prestigious Grammy Award in 2025.

Indian-American businesswoman and musician Chandrika Tandon grabbed the headlines recently for bagging the coveted Grammy Award at the 67th award function. She won the Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album category for her album, Triveni. 

Chandrika has won several awards and received accolades for her integrity and leadership. The prominent awards she has received are the Gallatin Medal, the Walter Nichols Medal, and the Polytechnic Medal. Besides being a businesswoman, she is a composer and a vocalist. She studied  Hindustani, Carnatic, and Western music.  Soul Call (2009), her first studio album, was nominated for Best Contemporary World Music Album at the Grammys in 2011.

Born in 1954 in Chennai, India, Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon is a well-known businesswoman. She has the distinction of being the first Indian-American woman to be elected partner at McKinsey and Company. In 2015, along with  her husband, Ranjan Tandon, donated $100 million to the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering. The institution has since been renamed the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. It is still the largest donation made by an Indian-American in the US. 

Chandrika Tandon was a trustee to New York University, NYU Langone Health, and American India Foundation. Also, she has served as a member of the President's Council on International Activities at Yale University, besides as the President's Advisory Council at the Berklee College of Music. Moreover, she has been on the Board of Governors for the New York Academy of Sciences.

Being a music composer and vocalist, and a trained Carnatic and Western musician, Chandrika Tandon has held many benefit concerts and performances across the globe. Some of her well-known concerts were held in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center, Olympiastadion, Lobkowicz Palace, and National Mall for the World Culture Festival.

Family And Education 

Chandrika Tandon is the elder sister of Indra Nooyi, the erstwhile CEO of PepsiCo. The latter has consistently ranked among the world's 100 most powerful women. Besides, she was associated with the boards of Amazon and the International Cricket Council. Chandrika was born into a conservative Tamil Brahmin family alongside her sister Indra and a brother. Her father was a bank officer while her mother was a musician. As their first daughter in the family, her parents planned for an arranged  marriage at eighteen, but at the influence of her grandfather, she pursued a higher education at Madras Christian College. When her mother initially refused to let her attend college, she persuaded her by going on a hunger strike. Eventually, the headmistress of Chandrika's convent school convinced her mother about the benefits of higher education.

Inspired by her grandfather, who was a judge in Chennai, Chandrika initially desired to go to law school on completion of her education at Madras Christian College. However, one of her professors motivated her to join the IIM-Ahmedabad and pursue a career in business. 

After her graduation from IIM-Ahmedabad in 1975, she secured employment as an executive at Citibank in Beirut, Lebanon. Later, at age 24, she was offered a position at McKinsey and Company in New York City, US. She holds the distinction as the first Indian-American to become a partner in the company. 

Tandon Capital Associates

In 1992, Chandrika formed Tandon Capital Associates and has since worked as a consultant to many clients. As per sources, she has advised over 40 big financial companies how to improve their overall efficiency and performance. Some of the top companies she offered her expertise include Chase Manhattan Corporation, Comerica, Unibanco (Brazil), Suncorp-Metway Ltd. (Australia), Fleet Financial Group, Bank of America, Rabobank, and ABN Amro.

Chandrika Tandon currently resides in New York with her husband and businessman Ranjan Tandon. She is the chairperson of Tandon Capital Associates and Krishnamurthy Tandon Foundation. Ranjan, a Harvard Business School graduate, holds a degree from the IIT-Kanpur, India, in Chemical Engineering. He has held several top positions, including in DCM, India, and Halliburton, Europe. Also, he was associated as a CFO of Intermarine in Texas, US, and a financial Executive with Merrill Lynch. He later became an investor and advisor. Being on the board of the Krishnamurthy-Tandon Foundation, he has provided leadership and management advices to the Harvard Business School and Yale University.

"Music is love, music is light and music is laughter. And let's all be surrounded by love, light and laughter. Thank you for the music and thank you to everyone who makes the music," said Chandrika Tandon in her Grammy-winning speech.

(Photo: Courtesy Grammy)