Revathi Advaithi-led Flex — the $24-billion electronics manufacturing services and supply chain giant — has been at the forefront in the fight against Covid-19. Flex is among the largest independent producers of ventilators in the world, and also manufactures life-saving medical equipment such as patient monitors, oxygenators, testing equipment, among others. "Fundamental to our transformation was a new purpose and mission through which we would anchor our strategies and decisions," she says. During the April-June quarter of calendar year 2019, Advaithi's first full quarter at Flex, the company recorded an adjusted operating margin of 3.4%. Today, it is 4.6%. "If you look at our gross margin, you'll see similar improvements. When I joined, our June-quarter gross margin was [at] 6.5% and in Q1 FY22, it stood at 7.5%," she adds. Despite the world grappling with supply chain and logistics challenges post Covid, Advaithi has managed to secure a place for Flex among the Global 500 this year. The company currently has 130 manufacturing and 30 design centres, and a global workforce of over 160,000, including 20,000 in India. — Debojyoti Ghosh