Meet man who did B.Tech from BHU, masters from US, still faced 400 job rejections, is now CEO of company worth Rs 10.86 lakh crore, name is..

Nikesh Arora, the CEO of Palo Alto Networks Inc., recently shared his inspiring life story in a heartfelt conversation with Karishma Mehta from Humans of Bombay. The tech leader spoke about his humble beginnings, challenges he faced, and the lessons he learnt along the way, from growing up in India to leading a global cybersecurity company. Born in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, Arora spent his childhood moving across different cities, as his father was a part of the Indian Air Force. This frequent shifting taught him to adapt quickly and develop a disciplined way of life. He credited his father for teaching him the values of fairness and integrity, principles that continue to guide him today. Arora pursued engineering at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), but life had other plans. He almost missed the CAT exam for IIM because he was headed to the cinema that day. Eventually, he set his eyes on studying in the US, despite having just USD 100 to spare. He only applied to universities that waived application fees and ended up at Northeastern University in Massachusetts with a scholarship. “They asked me to teach computer science, so I had to learn it during the summer,” he recalled.

His financial situation in the US wasn’t easy. He borrowed from his father’s pension fund and did part-time jobs like teaching at night just to get by. Even after graduating, the struggle continued. “I sent over 400 job applications and got rejected by all. I saved every rejection letter, they keep me motivated,” he said.

His career break came in 1992 at Fidelity Investments. He rose through the ranks and later joined Google in 2004, just after its IPO. At Google, he played a key role in growing the company’s revenue from USD 2 billion to over USD 60 billion.

After a decade at Google, Arora joined SoftBank. He spoke highly of Masayoshi Son, SoftBank’s founder, calling him someone with a rare appetite for risk. Though Arora didn’t agree with every investment, like WeWork, he said the experience taught him valuable lessons in decision-making and timing.

After SoftBank, Arora took a sabbatical but soon realised that golf wasn’t his calling. He joined Palo Alto Networks when it was valued at around USD 18 billion. Under his leadership, the company’s value has now crossed USD 100 billion. He attributes this success to strong vision, timely decisions, and focus on innovation, especially in cloud and AI.

Arora believes that failure is part of growth and sees destiny as a helpful way to deal with rejection. On AI, he spoke about how India’s true strength lies in adapting global models to local challenges, like Indian languages, traffic, and cultural context. “You don’t need to be first, you need to be smart—and there are many smart minds in India,” he said.

His story is a reminder that with resilience, resourcefulness, and belief in oneself, it’s possible to go from humble roots to leading the world’s top tech companies.