Vishnu is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer with over a decade of distinguished service in key roles within the Government. Prior to joining Harvard, he served as Commissioner of Investment Promotion and Managing Director & CEO of Guidance, the Department of Industries, Investment Promotion, and Commerce, Government of Tamil Nadu. As the head of Tamil Nadu's state investment promotion agency, Vishnu played a pivotal role in attracting investments across global value chains in critical sectors, including advanced electronics, electric vehicles (EVs), and green energy.
He has received several accolades for his contributions to public service. Notably, he was awarded the National Award for Best Electoral Practices by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for pioneering the adoption of innovative technologies in Indian elections. The Government of Tamil Nadu honored him with the prestigious Chief Minister’s Good Governance Award for his outstanding work in public healthcare innovation, particularly for reducing maternal mortality—a best practice that was subsequently scaled statewide. His professional journey includes diverse and challenging leadership roles with the Ministry of Shipping, the State Skill Mission, and the COVID-19 Task Force, among others.
He holds an engineering degree from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Trichy, India, and a certification in Port Management from APEC in Antwerp, Belgium. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship in the USA. As part of CID’s Reimagining the Economy project, Vishnu will explore the intersection of industrial policies, economic growth, and employment generation from a practitioner’s perspective. Leveraging his first-hand experience in policy formulation and implementation, he aims to bridge theory with real-world application, contributing insights that are scalable globally.