Vipin Sondhi is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Ashok Leyland, one of the largest Commercial Vehicles, Trucks and Bus manufacturers in the World. Founded in 1948, it is the second largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in India, the fourth largest manufacturer of buses in the world and 10th largest manufacturer of trucks globally. The company’s vision is to be amongst the Top 10 Commercial Vehicle manufacturers globally. He has over three decades of experience in Manufacturing and Engineering based companies such as JCB, Honda, Tata Steel and Tecumseh. Prior to Ashok Leyland, he was heading JCB lndia, where he spent over 13 years, and was a member of JCB’s global executive team. He led the $1.7 billion business with five manufacturing plants in three locations during which time JCB established market leadership in the Construction Equipment Industry. JCB’s Made-in-India products were also exported to over 100 countries cumulatively during his time. Vipin has a strong and proven track record as a leader and is a passionate hands-on professional An alumnus of The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, The Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi he did his schooling at The Lawrence School, Sanawar; an institution where he learnt to “Never Give In”. By continually expanding the boundaries in both, academics and extra-curricular activities, The Lawrence School laid the foundation for holistic development. It helped him significantly in pushing boundaries and “Never Giving In” all through his career in the Manufacturing Industry as well. He was appointed by the Government of India as the Chairperson, Board of Governors, of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal in December 2015. An elected member of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) National Council, he has been the Chairman of Excon, South Asia’s largest exhibition for Construction Equipment from 2006 to 2019. He was also conferred with an Honorary Fellowship by the Centre for Excellence in Project Management (CEPM) in December 2017. He has been awarded The CEO of the Year Award at CEO India Awards in 2014; the Udyog Rattan Award by the Institute of Economic Studies in 2011 and the Young Manager’s Trophy by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in the year 2000. An avid golfer, he lives in Delhi with his wife and daughter.