Indro Mukerjee is a highly experienced business leader with an exemplary track record of leading innovation and technology commercialisation in businesses of all sizes across the world.
With a degree in engineering science from Oxford University, Indro is also a graduate of the Wharton Advanced Management Program and speaks several European languages.
He was appointed CEO of Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, in 2021, standing down in 2024 after three and half years’ work, which the new Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation described as “excellent.”
Indro’s earlier business career was always driven by his strong curiosity and an innate desire to add value through transformation and problem solving.
He worked in leadership roles across publicly listed and multinational corporations as well as venture capital and private equity-backed technology companies, and has long been an advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion within industry.
Indro has lived and worked across Europe, North America and throughout Asia. He has built teams and stakeholder networks across the world and led businesses across many different industries and sectors. From medical to automotive and many sectors in between; from hardware to software; from asset-light intellectual property to full scale volume manufacturing.
He has led the science to innovation to industrialisation journey across businesses employing thousands, hundreds and also tens of people, and so can very much personally relate to real world experiences. He also has extensive mergers and acquisitions, fundraising and business transformation experience.
Indro has a strong personal interest in the development of skills for industry and nurturing the best talent pipeline, and co-founded the UK Electronics Skills Foundation. This registered charity has been successfully operating for nearly 15 years as an innovative collaboration between industry, universities and the public sector, connecting employers with students in schools and universities and inspiring young people to get into the electronics systems industry. Indro served as volunteer Board Chair for the Foundation’s first 9 years.
His commitment to nurturing skills also saw him serve on the board of SEMTA (the UK sector skills council for Science, Engineering, and Manufacturing Technologies, now Enginuity) for 9 years, where he chaired their Investment Committee and Electronics Strategy Group.
Indro has used his extensive business career experience in his role leading Innovate UK, and has transformed the organisation to operate across 3 axes of delivery: Domains - with industry/sector experts to talk and understand the language of business; Products & Services - pulling together a portfolio of targeted support across pathways from start up to scale up and beyond; and Place - with dedicated people across the UK supporting and co-creating programmes with regional leaders/businesses.
He has led the development of the Innovate UK system including Catapults for technology translation, IUK Business Connect for knowledge transfer and reach & engagement, and IUK Business Growth with a large network of scale up advisers supporting businesses across the UK.
Innovate UK has been delivering to record high volumes, with measurable impact including leveraging high private sector investment and increasing access and reach particularly to SMEs. This also includes support for the life sciences and healthy living sectors which form a major part of Innovate UK’s support and focus.
Indro was elected Honorary Fellow, Royal Academy of Engineering, is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and we are delighted to welcome him as an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.