Elon Musk is well known for challenging the limits of science and industry, but behind his futuristic ventures are several remarkable Indian-origin professionals who are turning his ambitious ideas into concrete results.
Ashok Elluswamy, a native of Tamil Nadu, has been the driving force behind Tesla’s groundbreaking self-driving technology. He was the first engineer hired for Tesla’s Autopilot division in 2014 and now leads the company’s AI Software unit as Vice President. Despite working with limited computing resources at the start—just 384 KB of memory—Elluswamy and his team built Tesla’s autonomy framework from the ground up. Musk himself has acknowledged that without Ashok, Tesla’s journey toward autonomous driving wouldn’t have taken off.
On the financial front, Vaibhav Taneja, Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer since 2023, has proven to be indispensable. An alumnus of Delhi University, he joined Tesla in 2017. By 2024, his compensation soared to an impressive $139 million, surpassing top executives at major tech firms. He has played a key role in shaping Tesla’s financial strategies, especially in pushing forward the company’s India plans. He’s also a board member of Tesla’s Indian subsidiary.
At SpaceX, Sanjeev Sharma, once an Indian Railways engineer, now works as a principal engineer and was pivotal in 2024’s Starship milestone—successfully catching the booster with a launch tower. His engineering leap from trains to rockets captivated audiences on social media and highlighted SpaceX’s commitment to reusable spaceflight.
Meanwhile, Akash Bobba, only 22 and a UC Berkeley graduate, was recruited in 2025 to work on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an initiative backed by Musk to modernize US government systems using AI. His college days showed his quick thinking—like rebuilding an entire lost project overnight—which now supports high-stakes government tech revamps.
Sriram Krishnan, a seasoned tech executive born in Chennai, briefly joined Musk’s Twitter transition team after the platform’s acquisition. With experience at Microsoft, Facebook, and Snap, Krishnan was key in reorganizing Twitter’s tech operations during a turbulent phase. Though his stint was temporary, it left a lasting impact.
Together, these brilliant Indian-origin individuals are not just supporting Musk’s missions—they’re helping reshape the future of technology and governance on a global scale.
