Forbes has released its 10th annual '30 Under 30 Asia' list, spotlighting the region's most promising young entrepreneurs, leaders, and changemakers, all under the age of 30. The Class of 2025 is distinctly tech-driven, with artificial intelligence playing a major role in how these individuals are shaping the future.
This year, the list of 300 individuals spans across 10 key categories, including AI, Consumer & Enterprise Tech, Finance, Social Impact, Retail and Ecommerce, and The Arts.
India dominated the list with 94 honorees, the most from any country in the Asia-Pacific region. Among the standout names this year are chess prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju, Bollywood actor Ananya Panday and sustainable fashion entrepreneur Jinali Mody.
Here are some of the Indian changemakers who made it to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2025 list:
- Sheetal Devi, 17, Paralympian: The world's first armless archer to win gold at the Asian Para Games.
- Gukesh Dommaraju, 18, Chess Grandmaster: Reigning World Chess Champion and the youngest Indian to beat world champion Magnus Carlsen.
- Anuv Jain, 29, Singer-Songwriter: Known for hits like Husn and Baarishein.
- Ishaan Khatter, 29, Actor: A versatile performer gaining international acclaim. He is known for performances in films like Beyond the Clouds (2017) and Dhadak (2018).
- Ananya Panday, 26, Actress and Chanel Brand Ambassador: Bollywood star and the first Indian face of Chanel.
- Anshita Mehrotra, 25, Founder, Fix My Curls: Pioneering curly hair care products tailored for Indian hair types.
- Jinali Mody, Founder, Banofi Leather: Turning banana crop waste into sustainable leather alternatives.
- Mukul Chhabra, 27, Founder, ScrapUncle: Enabling doorstep scrap collection with a tech-first model.
- Krishna Gupta, 27, Cofounder, AamDhanE: Making rural India financially literate and investment-ready.
- Vaibhav Kaushik, 27, Cofounder, Nawgati Tech: Reducing fuel pump wait times using AI.
- Karttikeya Mangalam, 28, Cofounder, SigIQ.ai: Helping factories monitor machine health with AI.
- Kshitiz Sanghi, 29, Cofounder, Voosh: Streamlining cloud kitchens with automation.
- Manu Chopra, 29, Cofounder, Karya: Collecting AI training data ethically from rural India.
- Hunny Bhagchandani, 29, Founder, Torchit: Affordable assistive tech for the visually impaired.
- Arghya Bhattacharya, 26, Cofounder, Adalat AI: Building AI tools to simplify India's complex legal system.
- Manu Nair and Prashant Sharma, Cofounders, Ethereal Exploration Guild: India's spacetech duo working on affordable space exploration.
Following India, Australia had 32 honorees on the list, while China featured 30, Japan 25, and South Korea 23. Singapore and Indonesia each had 19 entries.
