Inspiration is a key driving force in Sanjay Dalal’s entrepreneurial journey, shaping his approach to business strategy, innovation, and leadership. Throughout his professional journey, Sanjay has drawn inspiration from pioneering trailblazers, innovative thinkers, and transformative leaders. These influences have shaped his approach to entrepreneurship, business strategy, and leadership in the fields of AI, marketing and innovation.
Besides my parents, these leaders have inspired me over the years… I am a lifelong student and am always learning more from their work and life experiences, and shared wisdom.
Humanity
Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln
Spiritual
Dalai Lama, Sadhguru, Sri Sri, Rakesh Jhaveri, Rick Warren, Pope Francis, Pramukh Swami, Swami Chinmayananda, Sai Baba, Guru Nanak, Swami Vivekananda
Coaches
John Maxwell, Jim Collins, Tony Dungy, Gregg Popovich, Mike Krzyzewski, Pat Summitt, Vince Lombardi, John Wooden, Stephen Covey, Peter Drucker, Bill Walsh
Business
Warren Buffett, Tim Cook, Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Jamie Dimon, Mukesh Ambani, Michael Bloomberg, Bog Iger, Don Bren, Indra Nooyi, Shantanu Narayen, Azim Premji, Kenneth I. Chenault, Howard Schultz, Ajaypal Singh Banga, Sheryl Sandberg, Jeff Weiner, Spencer Rascoff, Mary Barra, Lloyd Blankfein, Ginni Rometty, Tadashi Yanai, Masayoshi Son, Brad Smith, Peter Thiel, Mohamed A. El-Erian, Bill Gross, Sunil Mittal, Laxmi Mittal, Narayana Murthy, Jack Welch, Arthur D. Levinson, Andrea Jung, Charlie Munger, Ratan Tata, Ross Perot, Lee Iaccoca, Bill Campbell, Andy Grove, Dhirubhai Ambani, Sam Walton
Innovators
Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Sam Altman, Richard Branson, Marc Benioff, Reed Hastings, Reid Hoffman, Mark Cuban, Michael Dell, Eric Yuan, Jack Ma, Jack Dorsey, Dr. Deepak Chopra, Scott Cook, Simon Cowell, Melinda Gates, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Steve Harvey, Jony Ive, Salman Khan (Khan Academy), Vinod Khosla, Henry Samueli, Biz Stone, Fareed Zakaria, Marc Andreessen, Steve Wozniak. Steve Jobs, Ingvar Kamprad, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford
Women Trailblazers & Leaders
Oprah Winfrey, Kamala Harris, Serena and Venus Williams, P. V. Sindhu, Indra Nooyi, Melinda Gates, Mary Barra, Ginni Rometty, Sheryl Sandberg, Sudha Murty, Mary Kom, Andrea Jung, Susan Wojcicki
Sports
Sachin Tendulkar, Serena and Venus Williams, Michael Jordan, Kapil Dev, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, LeBron James, Vince Young, Magic Johnson, P. V. Sindhu, Mary Kom, Tim Duncan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O’Neal, Stephen Curry, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton and Eli Manning, Drew Brees, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Steve Young, Michael Irvin, Sunil Gavaskar, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly, India Cricket World Cup 1983 Team, Syed Kirmani, Prakash Padukone, Leander Paes, Vijay Amritraj, Vivian Richards, Ian Botham, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara, Glenn McGrath, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Jonty Rhodes, Brian Lara, Wasim Akram, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Wayne Gretzky, Tiger Woods, Lionel Messi. Shane Warne, Kobe Bryant
World Leaders
Architects of India’s Independence including Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Maulana Azad and many more!
American Leaders: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., John F Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln
Global Leaders: Angela Merkel, Xi Jinping, Shinzo Abe, Nelson Mandela
India Leaders: Narendra Modi, Manmohan Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Rajiv Gandhi, P.V. Narasimha Rao, Morarji Desai, Indira Gandhi