Family man, advocate and leader: Meet Rishi Varma, Cargill’s newest Executive Team member

Rishi Varma , the newest member of our Executive Team, brings a (literal) world of experience. 

He is the eldest son of two Indian doctors who migrated to the United States in the 1960s. He is the only lawyer in a family of physicians. He was working in Midtown Manhattan during the Sept. 11 attacks. He is a family man. He listens to rock and roll and loves Halloween.  

Through all this and more, like a thread binding his life together, runs a passion for doing good. 

“My father is 83 years old. My mother is 86. They remain active in their communities, providing medical guidance,” Rishi says. “Growing up, they were an inspiration to find the same passion.”  

Rishi is Cargill’s new chief legal and compliance officer, and corporate secretary. He is taking over for Anna Richo , who is set to retire in September 2024. 

Rishi’s path before joining Cargill was full of twists and turns. It’s an adventure that began even before he was born. This is his story.  

The odd one out 

When Surendra and Kamlesh Varma first landed in the U.S. to complete their medical studies at Harvard, they had different futures in mind. Kamlesh, Rishi’s mother, assumed they would return to India after a year or so. Surendra envisioned a permanent move.  

“My dad knew, in his mind, that they would not return,” Rishi reflects. “Remember, this was a time without FaceTime calls or social media. Even a phone call home was difficult. So, it was a tough choice.” 

But Surendra believed, in his heart, that he and his wife — who both were children during the Partition of India and grew up in a country reeling from it — would be able to build their future kids a better life in the strange new land of Boston, Massachusetts, where they landed.  

Surendra was right. The Varmas not only stayed in the U.S. — they set down roots for good. Like their parents, Rishi’s sister Ritu is also a physician.  

“I’m the odd one out,” Rishi laughs. “I’m the lawyer.”  

The lawyer 

Rishi was born in Boston and grew up in Texas. But it was Washington, D.C., that truly captured his attention, energy and, eventually, passion.  

“I spent quite a bit of time in D.C.,” he recalls. “Even before law school, I spent a few summers there, and went to Georgetown as an undergrad. Later, I interned on Capitol Hill for a congressman."

Young Rishi was captivated by the power of legislation. Above all, though, he was impressed by the power of advocacy coming to life in front of his eyes. His connections and experiences taught him a valuable lesson about being a voice of change.  

“If you think about the United States in the 60s, the people pushing for changes to civil rights legislation were lawyers,” Rishi says. “The idea that you could advocate, you could influence legislation and you could enact change — a lot of that came through lawyers. That fascinated me.”  

Rishi spent the first few years of his career working at law firms. But it was when he became a corporate lawyer that he was able to channel his desire for advocacy and turn it into real, palpable change.  

“Corporations like Cargill are global citizens,” he shares. “When you can leverage the power of a global citizen to enact positive change, it can be massive. But I’m not just talking about change on a global scale. It’s change at an individual scale, too.” 

His corporate debut was at Trico Marine Services, a provider of maritime support to the gas and oil industry. Over five years, he moved all the way up to president and chief operating officer. Then, after a brief stint with another oil and gas company as their general counsel, he moved to Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE); for 11 years, he helped build a culture that reflected what he most values in his work.  

“My goal is always the same,” he says. “Wherever I am, I want the people that I work with to know that what they do is making them a better person — a better professional and better global citizen.” 

The advocate 

There’s a clear memory in Rishi’s mind: his father is donning a button-down shirt, dress pants and an elegant jacket — an unusually professional look for the occasion. The family was on holiday, and they were going to Disneyland.  

“I was kind of laughing,” Rishi recalls. He asked his father why he was dressing like that, instead of a more casual dad look.  

Surendra sat Rishi down. "Son," he said, "people who look like us have to make a concerted effort and appear a certain way, so we’re not ignored or discounted."  

The conversation stuck with Rishi, but he couldn’t appreciate why until he became the general counsel at HPE and realized how very few people in that role looked like him. His desire to do good started tingling again.  

As a kid, Rishi was worried about not standing out. He preferred to assimilate and blend in. As a leader, he now wants people to be their whole selves. Rishi’s legal career is intertwined with his passion for diversity, equity and inclusion.  

At Cargill, he says, he found a breadth of diversity. Not just in representation, but in the thought process. He’s coming to contribute to a culture that’s already in place. He can’t wait. 

“Cultures are the most important fabric we have to connect with others. To connect means to appreciate and understand that people come from different places and have different perspectives,” Rishi says. “Not everyone thinks the same as you, and that’s a wonderful thing. We can learn from one another. I want to learn about what makes you different from me, and I want to embrace those differences.”