Obama's business brain trust

When Nooyi attended Obama's bipartisan economic meeting in July alongside JPMorgan's Dimon and Google's Schmidt, the CEO joined the candidate's elite squadron of advisors. Nooyi has not spoken publicly on Obama's behalf, but she is a noted Democrat.

After running one of the country's biggest multinationals, Nooyi, who is the chairman of the U.S.-India Business Council, could assist Obama in developing economic opportunities in global markets. While presiding over Pepsi, which sells its products in more than 200 countries and employs more than 185,000 people, she promoted the issues of sustainability and social responsibility.

Nooyi serves on the boards of Motorola and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

NEXT: Paul Volcker, former Fed chairman