Shikha Sharma facts for kids

Shikha Sharma is a well-known Indian economist and banker. She was the managing director and CEO of Axis Bank from 2009 to 2018. Before that, she worked for almost 30 years at the ICICI Group. This included working with their bank and insurance companies.

Early Life and Education

Shikha Sharma was born on November 19, 1958. Her father was in the Indian Army. He was a brigadier in the ordnance corps. Because of his military service, Shikha moved a lot as a child. She went to seven different schools in various cities across India. She finished her schooling at the Loreto Convent School, Delhi in Delhi.

Even though she was interested in physics, Shikha chose to study economics. She earned her BA (Honours) in Economics from the Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi. Later, she got her MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. She also completed a special diploma in Software Technology. She studied this at the National Centre for Software Technology in Bombay.

Career Journey

Starting at ICICI Group

After finishing her MBA, Shikha Sharma joined ICICI Ltd. in 1980. She worked there for 29 years. During her time, she helped create ICICI Securities. This was a joint project between ICICI and J.P. Morgan. She also helped start other parts of ICICI's business. These included investment banking and retail finance. She even launched a "micro-insurance" product. This offered life insurance for a very low cost. She led ICICI Personal Financial Services from 1998 to 2000. Then, she became the head of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company until 2009.

Leading Axis Bank

In 2009, Shikha Sharma became the managing director and CEO of Axis Bank. She took over from P. J. Nayak. She focused on making Axis Bank's retail banking stronger. Retail banking deals with services for individual customers. This helped the bank stay stable during tough economic times. She wanted to balance the bank's business. Her goal was to grow retail banking to match the corporate business. Under her leadership, the share of retail loans grew significantly.

During her time, Axis Bank also expanded internationally. In 2011, Axis Bank UK was started. In 2016, the bank opened an office in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Recognitions and Achievements

Under Shikha Sharma's leadership, Axis Bank received many awards. In 2013, Business Today ranked Axis Bank among the best companies to work for. Harvard Business Review even wrote a case study about the bank in 2014. This study was called 'Managing Change at Axis Bank'.

In 2014, The Banker magazine named Axis Bank the "Bank of the Year in India." They noted the bank's strong growth in profit. In 2015, the bank received a "Certificate of Recognition for excellence in Corporate Governance." This was from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. For two years in a row, Axis Bank was also named the "Most Trusted Private Sector Bank." This was in a survey by The Economic Times.

Shikha Sharma retired from Axis Bank on December 31, 2018. Amitabh Chaudhry became her successor on January 1, 2019.

Other Important Roles

After leaving Axis Bank, Shikha Sharma continued to serve on important boards. As of 2025, she is a director at Piramal Enterprises. She also serves on the boards of Tata Consumer Products, Ambuja Cements, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories. She also advises Google Pay and other organizations. She is a member of the board of governors for the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow.

Personal Life

Shikha Sharma met her husband, Sanjaya Sharma, while they were students. They both attended IIM Ahmedabad in 1978. Sanjaya used to be the CEO of Tata Interactive Systems. Shikha and Sanjaya have two children, Tilak and Tvisha. Shikha also has two younger brothers who are cardiologists.

Awards and Recognition

Shikha Sharma has received many awards for her work:

• "Best Domestic Bank in India" (2010) by Asset Triple A Country Awards
• 'Banker of the Year' for 2014–15 by Business Standard
• AIMA - J. R. D. Tata Corporate Leadership Award for the Year 2014
• 'India's Best Woman CEO' by Business Today – 2013
• 'Transformational Business Leader of the Year' at AIMA's Managing India Awards – 2012
• 'Woman Leader of the year' at Bloomberg - UTV Financial Leadership Awards – 2012
• Businessworld Banker of the Year Award – 2012
• Forbes List of Asia's 50 Power Business Women – 2012
• Indian Express Most Powerful Indians – 2012
• India Today Power List of 25 Most Influential Women – 2012
• Finance Asia's Top 20 Women in Finance – 2011
• Business Today 'Hall of Fame' – 2011
• Fortune Global and India list of 50 Most Powerful Women in Business – 2011
• Businesswoman of the Year at the Economic Times Awards – 2008
• Entrepreneur of the Year – Manager at the E&Y Entrepreneur Awards – 2007
• Outstanding Businesswoman of the Year, CNBC TV 18's Business Leader Awards