Abanti Sankaranarayanan, 

In her last few quarters as MD of Diageo, Sankaranarayanan, 46, assisted in the integration of Diageo and United Spirits—no easy feat given that the liquor industry in India is among the most highly regulated. Sankaranarayanan, who cut her teeth at Tata Administrative Services, spent much of the year reconfiguring Diageo’s network and brands to leverage USL’s distribution and forging relationships with regulatory bodies. The result: Net sales of Diageo brands shot up 14%. With the integration of the two companies and her appointment as the business head of luxury brands at USL, her focus is now on strengthening Diageo’s grasp on the fast-growing and highly profitable ultra premium liquor market.