Mr. Jay Chaudhry (ECE ’80)

Mr. Jay Chaudhry‘s generous gift of $1 Million enabled IIT (BHU) to establish its own Entrepreneurship Center.

Mr. Jay Chaudhry is a proud alumnus of the electronics engineering department of IIT (BHU), Varanasi, from the 1980 batch. He is also an accomplished entrepreneur who has founded a number of successful start-ups, including Airdefense IncCipherTrustCore Harbor Inc.Secure&IT, and Zscaler, all in the security technology sector. He currently serves as the CEO, Chairman, and Founder of Zscaler, a cybersecurity firm he co-founded in 2007 with Mr. Kailash Kailash (ECE’80), a former classmate at IIT(BHU).

Born in a small village at foothills of Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh, since his childhood Mr. Chaudhry excelled at studies. After his graduation from the Institute, he went on to earn a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering, a master’s degree in industrial engineering and management, and an MBA in marketing from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, USA. Throughout his careers, Jay has been honored by Ernst & Young Global Consulting Services as an “Entrepreneur of the Year” twice, an InformationWeek “Innovator & Influencer”, an SC Magazine “Market Entrepreneur”, and a Goldman Sachs “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs.”

Mr. Jay Chaudhry is also the recipient of three awards by Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi: Alumnus of the Year (2015), Alumnus of the Century in Making (2019) and the Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Awards (2021-22). He has also graced The Convocation of the Batch of 2020 with his virtual presence. In making the gift, he shared, “The education I received at IIT (BHU) played a pivotal role in preparing me for the business world”.
While expressing his zeal for entrepreneurship and the vision behind the Entrepreneurship Center, Mr. Chaudhry said, “This Entrepreneurship Center will help educate young students to navigate their careers and learn practical skills to allow them to be more competitive in the world of cyber security. My hope is that the Entrepreneurship Center will afford students with big dreams and aspirations the same opportunities I was fortunate enough to experience.”

The Entrepreneurship Center will be instrumental in student development, faculty development and entrepreneurship development at IIT (BHU), blazing a trail of entrepreneurs of the future.

Mr. Jay Chaudhry (ECE ’80)