Sunny Verghese is the WBCSD Chair, co-founder and group CEO of Olam International, a Singapore Stock Exchange-listed global agri-business that deals in food ingredients and agricultural raw materials such as cocoa, coffee, rice, nuts, spices and cotton. Under Verghese’s leadership, Olam has risen to become one of the 30 largest primary listed companies in Singapore in terms of market capitalisation.

Established in 1989, Olam today employs around 26,300 employees worldwide and operates in 70 destination markets. The firm cultivates crops in its own estates and orchards, and also sources produce from more than 5 million farmers globally. With an eye on sustainability, Olam was also one of the firms that pledged to support global efforts to reach net-zero emissions globally by 2050, at the World Leaders Summit on Forests and Land Use at the climate-change conference COP26.

In addition to his day job, Verghese, a Public Service Medal recipient, occupies chairman positions at the Board of the Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI), Singapore, and Joil(S) Pte Ltd. He was on the Board of Trustees of National University of Singapore from 2009 to 2013.