Dhivya Suryadevara

Pensions aren’t the sexiest part of a company’s business, but they can be among the most critical—and GM’s is one of the largest in the U.S. The 36-year old native of Chennai, India has been the chief investment officer of GM Asset Management since 2013—and became its CEO in early 2014—where she manages $80 billion in assets across the automaker’s retirement plans. Earlier this year she added VP of Finance and Treasurer to her resume, meaning she now has responsibility for capital planning, capital market activities, and worldwide banking, also participating in business development, risk management and investor relations. She joined the company in 2004 from UBS. The Harvard Business School grad—she moved to the U.S. to enroll—says that going to a legacy company rather than a startup like so many of her peers has been rewarding since she gets to “look at things from a fresh perspective.”