Abanti Sankarnarayanan, 

For most of the past year, Sankaranarayanan had a tricky task: To end an acrimonious relationship with USL's then chairman, Vijay Mallya, and extricate the company from a pile of notices from regulators. Mallya agreed to a settlement, but the regulators raised a number of questions, which Sankaranarayanan is working on. As the only member on USL’s executive committee who comes from Diageo, her job is ensure that the company's combined culture resonates with the parent— not an easy job considering the nature of the liquor industry in India.