By Geeta Goindi
July 26, 2026 – Indian-American business leader Revathi Advaithi has pledged $1 million to establish a permanent scholarship endowment for economically disadvantaged women students at her alma mater, the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani.
Established jointly by Advaithi and her husband, manufacturing technology leader and investor Jeevan Mulgund, the $1 million gift will fund the Visalam Swamy and Sucheta Mulgund Scholarship, named in honor of their mothers. The institute said the scholarship is intended to ensure that “financial circumstances do not prevent a talented young woman from receiving a BITS Pilani education.”
Advaithi is the Chief Executive Officer of Flex, a Fortune 500 advanced manufacturing and supply chain solutions company, where she has led a global workforce across 30 countries since 2019. Under her leadership, Flex has focused on technology innovation, strengthening supply chain resilience and advancing sustainable manufacturing.
President Biden picks Arati Prabhakar as top White House science adviser
Announcing the gift during the university’s 2026 convocation ceremony where she was the chief guest, Advaithi, a 1990 BITS Pilani graduate, said the endowment was inspired by her own educational journey and her desire to help ensure that talented young women are not denied educational opportunities due to financial hardship.
In a commencement address that earned a standing ovation, she reflected on the experiences that shaped her journey from a BITS Pilani student to the chief executive of one of the world’s leading manufacturing companies.
She shared that her father died when she was 15, leaving her mother to raise five daughters with no formal education, no job and no income. Despite those hardships, her mother remained determined to educate her children and sent Advaithi to BITS Pilani in 1986, where she was the only woman in her class.
Advaithi surprised graduates with a candid admission that she “almost did not graduate” from the institute.
“I was not a serious student,” she said, recalling that she devoted more time to campus life than academics and graduated without distinction.
The central theme of her address was captured in two words: “Ready enough.”
She urged graduates not to wait until they felt completely prepared before embracing opportunities, recalling that she nearly declined the career-defining promotion that eventually led her to become CEO because she believed she was unqualified. Her company’s chief executive challenged that self-doubt with a simple message: “Nobody is perfectly ready for any job. You are ready enough.”
“Nobody walks in ready,” Advaithi told the graduates. “The one who gets the job and walks in is ready enough.”
25 Indian students to get Quad Fellowship for STEM education
She disclosed that she was diagnosed with breast cancer while leading one of the most significant strategic transformations in Flex’s history, saying the experience reinforced her belief that life rarely presents ideal conditions.
“The work happens anyway… Ready enough is the muscle that gets you through it,” she emphasized.
Addressing the women in the graduating class, Advaithi encouraged them to reject self-doubt.
“The right answer to the question is, Are you ready? And remember you are ready enough to walk into the room, take the job, raise your hand, say yes,” she said.
Advaithi also called on the graduating men to become advocates for gender equity by challenging assumptions that women are “not quite ready” for leadership opportunities.
“That one small act repeated by enough men of your generation will close the gap that no policy has been able to close,” she said.
Four Indian-American teens among top winners of 2021 Regeneron Science Talent Search
Introducing Advaithi at the convocation ceremony, BITS Pilani Group Vice Chancellor Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao described her as a global manufacturing leader whose career reflects innovation, leadership and a commitment to responsible manufacturing. He noted that, following the planned spin-off of Flex’s Cloud and Power business into an independent public company, Advaithi will become Chief Executive Officer of the new company while serving as Chairman of the Flex Board during the transition. She also serves on the boards of Uber and the MIT Presidential CEO Advisory Board.
Before joining Flex, Advaithi held senior leadership positions at Eaton and Honeywell. In 2023, then-President Joe Biden appointed her to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations and the Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness.
Advaithi earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from BITS Pilani and later received an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. She has been named among Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business, recognized as Fast Company’s 2025 Modern CEO of the Year, and featured on CNBC’s inaugural Changemakers list.
