Vimal Kapur

Vimal Kapur
Born	Template:Birth year and age
Birthplace	India
Nationality	American
Occupation	Business executive
Title	Chairman and CEO of Honeywell International
Known for	Leading Honeywell International as Chairman and CEO
Education	Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology
Website	[https://www.honeywell.com/us/en/company/leadership/vimal-kapur Official site]

Vimal Kapur (born 1965) is an Indian-American business executive who serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell International, a multinational conglomerate headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Kapur assumed the role of CEO in June 2023, succeeding Darius Adamczyk, after a career spanning more than three decades within the company. Born in India, Kapur began his career at Honeywell as a sales manager and rose through a succession of increasingly senior leadership positions across the company's global operations, ultimately reaching the pinnacle of one of the world's largest industrial conglomerates. As Chairman and CEO, Kapur has focused the company's strategic direction on areas including automation, aerospace, energy transition, and the integration of artificial intelligence into industrial processes. His appointment was noted as part of a broader trend of Indian-origin executives ascending to leadership roles at major American corporations.

Early Life

Vimal Kapur was born in 1965 in India. Details about his family background and childhood have not been extensively documented in public sources. Kapur has spoken in interviews about his origins in India and the trajectory that brought him from the country's business environment to the executive suites of a Fortune 100 American corporation.

Kapur's early career began in India, where he worked as a sales manager before joining Honeywell. His rise from an entry-level sales position in India to the CEO office of a major multinational has been cited as an example of upward mobility within large corporate organizations. In a December 2025 interview with Forbes, Kapur discussed his career journey from sales manager in India to the top of one of America's largest industrial companies, reflecting on the experiences and lessons that shaped his leadership approach over more than three decades at Honeywell.

His Indian heritage and the path he followed to become the leader of a storied American conglomerate were highlighted by several publications upon his appointment as CEO. The appointment was covered by outlets including Global Indian, Sakshi Post, and Darpan Magazine, which noted Kapur's ascent as part of a continuing pattern of Indian-origin professionals reaching the highest levels of corporate leadership in the United States.

Education

Kapur received his education at the Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, an engineering institution located in Patiala, Punjab, India. The institute recognized Kapur as a notable alumnus following his rise to the top of Honeywell, listing him among its distinguished graduates. Thapar Institute, established in 1956, is a private engineering university that has produced graduates across multiple sectors of industry and technology. Kapur's engineering background provided the technical foundation for his career in the industrial and technology sectors at Honeywell, where he would go on to hold positions spanning process solutions, automation, and connected enterprise technologies.

Career

Early Career at Honeywell

Kapur joined Honeywell in the late 1980s, beginning a tenure that would span more than three decades before his elevation to CEO. He started as a sales manager in India, a role that exposed him to the operational and commercial fundamentals of the company's business. Over the following years, Kapur advanced through multiple roles within the organization, gaining experience across different business segments and geographies. His career progression encompassed positions of increasing responsibility within Honeywell's diverse portfolio of industrial and technology businesses.

Leadership in Honeywell Process Solutions

In 2014, Honeywell named Kapur as president of Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS), a business unit within the company's Performance Materials and Technologies segment. Honeywell Process Solutions provides automation and control technologies, instrumentation, and related services to the oil and gas, refining, chemical, and other process industries. In this role, Kapur was responsible for overseeing the business unit's global operations, product development, and customer relationships across the process industries sector.

The HPS presidency was a significant role within Honeywell's organizational structure, giving Kapur oversight of a business unit that served as a core part of the company's industrial technology portfolio. The position also placed him in a visible leadership role within the broader automation and industrial technology industry.

President and COO of Honeywell

Kapur continued to rise within Honeywell's leadership ranks in the years that followed, taking on roles of increasing scope and strategic significance. Prior to becoming CEO, he served as the company's President and Chief Operating Officer, a position that placed him in direct line of succession for the top leadership role. In this capacity, Kapur had broad operational oversight of Honeywell's business segments and was involved in shaping the company's strategic direction across its portfolio, which includes aerospace technologies, building technologies, performance materials, and safety and productivity solutions.

His tenure as President and COO was viewed by industry observers as preparation for the CEO role, and his eventual appointment was described by Yahoo Finance as the elevation of a "34-year veteran" of the company.

CEO of Honeywell (2023–present)

Vimal Kapur became CEO of Honeywell International in June 2023, succeeding Darius Adamczyk, who had served as CEO since 2017. Kapur subsequently also assumed the role of Chairman of the Board, holding the combined title of Chairman and CEO.

Strategic Direction and Portfolio Realignment

Under Kapur's leadership, Honeywell has pursued a significant strategic realignment of its portfolio. In a December 2025 interview with Forbes, Kapur discussed what the publication described as a "historic company split," indicating a major restructuring of Honeywell's business portfolio. This represented one of the most consequential corporate actions in Honeywell's modern history, as the company evaluated the composition of its business segments and the optimal structure for delivering value.

Kapur has articulated a strategic vision centered on several megatrends that he sees as driving long-term demand for Honeywell's products and services. These include automation, the future of aviation, energy transition, and digital transformation of industrial processes.

Focus on Artificial Intelligence

A defining theme of Kapur's tenure as CEO has been the integration of artificial intelligence into Honeywell's product offerings and operations. In a January 2026 article published in Time magazine, Kapur argued that "physical AI" — the application of artificial intelligence to the physical and industrial world — "has the potential to create a more efficient, safer, and smarter world." The article outlined Kapur's perspective on how AI could transform manufacturing, building operations, energy systems, and other domains in which Honeywell operates.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2026, Kapur participated in discussions about the implementation of AI in corporate settings. As reported by Axios, he was among executives who emphasized that specificity in defining AI goals within an organization can be the determining factor between success and failure of AI initiatives.

In a November 2025 opinion piece published in Fortune, Kapur wrote about the implications of AI and automation for the future of work, arguing that CEOs must rethink how future workers are prepared for an economy increasingly shaped by these technologies. The piece reflected Kapur's public position that the disruption caused by AI and automation requires proactive leadership and planning to ensure positive outcomes for workers and society.

Quantum Computing Investments

Under Kapur's leadership, Honeywell has continued to invest in quantum computing through its majority-owned subsidiary Quantinuum. In February 2026, Kapur noted that Quantinuum's new Helios quantum computer was "seeing strong interest" from businesses and that the company was reaching an "inflection point" as organizations began preparing for practical applications of quantum computing. Honeywell's quantum computing business has been a distinctive element of its portfolio, positioning the conglomerate at the intersection of industrial technology and next-generation computing.

Aerospace and Buildings Performance

In February 2026, Kapur reported that Honeywell had not seen a "significant change" in U.S. demand trends, with particular strength in the company's aerospace and buildings technology segments. This assessment, delivered in the context of investor communications, reflected Kapur's public messaging about the stability of Honeywell's core markets heading into 2026.

Kapur has represented Honeywell at multiple investor conferences during his tenure as Chairman and CEO, maintaining an active engagement with the financial community. In February 2026, Honeywell announced his participation in upcoming investor conferences, underscoring his role as the company's primary spokesperson to the investment community.

Educational Investments

In September 2025, under Kapur's leadership, Honeywell announced a $10 million investment in the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to transform a campus science building into the "Honeywell Innovation Hub." The initiative was part of the company's broader engagement with educational institutions in Charlotte, where Honeywell relocated its global headquarters. The investment reflected Kapur's stated concern about workforce development and the need to prepare future workers for careers in technology and engineering fields.

Personal Life

Vimal Kapur was born in India in 1965 and later became an American citizen. He is part of a cohort of Indian-born executives who have risen to lead major American corporations, a trend that has drawn attention in both Indian and American media. Beyond these publicly documented details, Kapur has maintained a relatively private personal life, with his public appearances and statements focused primarily on his corporate responsibilities at Honeywell.

Kapur appeared at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in 2025 in Davos, Switzerland, where he participated in discussions on topics including the industrial applications of artificial intelligence and corporate strategy. His participation at Davos reflected his standing among global business leaders and his engagement with international policy and business forums.

Recognition

Kapur's appointment as CEO of Honeywell was recognized by several publications and organizations as a notable achievement. The Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology recognized him as a distinguished alumnus, highlighting his career trajectory from the institute to the leadership of a global conglomerate.

His career journey from a sales manager in India to the CEO and Chairman of Honeywell has been profiled by multiple media outlets. Forbes featured Kapur in a December 2025 video interview focused on his career path and leadership decisions, including the historic restructuring of Honeywell's business portfolio. Time magazine published his perspective on the future of AI in the physical world, placing him among a select group of CEO voices shaping the discourse on industrial technology and its societal implications. Fortune published his views on workforce preparation in the age of AI, further establishing him as a commentator on the intersection of technology and labor market policy.

Global Indian, Sakshi Post, and Darpan Magazine all covered Kapur's appointment as part of a broader narrative about the success of Indian-origin professionals in American corporate leadership, placing him alongside other Indian-origin executives who have led Fortune 500 companies.

Kapur has also been active in investor relations, representing Honeywell at industry and investor conferences, and has engaged with media outlets including Fox Business to discuss the company's performance and strategic direction.

Legacy

As of early 2026, Kapur's tenure as CEO of Honeywell remains in its early stages, and a full assessment of his legacy is premature. However, several elements of his leadership have begun to define his impact on the company and the broader industrial technology sector.

The portfolio restructuring announced during his tenure, described by Forbes as a "historic company split," represents a potentially transformational moment in Honeywell's corporate history. If executed as planned, this restructuring would reshape a conglomerate with roots stretching back more than a century, marking one of the most significant corporate reorganizations in the American industrial sector.

Kapur's emphasis on artificial intelligence as a core driver of Honeywell's future has positioned the company within one of the most consequential technological shifts of the early 21st century. His articulation of "physical AI" — the application of AI to the physical and industrial world — has contributed to a broader public conversation about how industrial companies can leverage AI technologies beyond the digital realm.

His investment in educational initiatives, such as the $10 million Honeywell Innovation Hub at UNC Charlotte, reflects an approach to corporate leadership that extends beyond immediate shareholder returns to address longer-term challenges of workforce development and community engagement.

As an Indian-born executive leading one of America's largest and most established corporations, Kapur's career trajectory has been cited as part of the broader story of Indian-origin professionals in American corporate leadership. His path from a sales position in India to the chairmanship and CEO role at a Fortune 100 company has been documented as an example of the international character of modern American corporate leadership.