TCS appoints K Krithivasan as CEO designate after Rajesh Gopinathan resigns 'to pursue other interests'

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd on Thursday appointed company veteran K Krithivasan as CEO designate after Rajesh Gopinathan resigned. Gopinathan, who completed six years as CEO of the Indian IT behemoth in January, was reappointed as CEO till 2027 last year. Gopinathan will continue with the company till September 15, 2023 to provide transition and support to his successor, said the IT firm.

TCS Board has nominated K Krithivasan as the CEO designate with effect from March 16, 2023. "Krithivasan will go through a transition with Rajesh Gopinathan and will be appointed as the Managing Director & CEO in the next financial year," said TCS in a statement.

K. Krithivasan is presently President and Global Head of the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) Business Group at TCS. "During his long tenure at TCS, Krithivasan has held various leadership roles in delivery, customer relationship management, large program management and sales. Krithivasan has been part of the global technology sector for over 34 years, having joined Tata Consultancy Services in 1989," said the IT firm.

"After a stellar career of over 22 years with TCS and a successful stint as Managing Director & CEO during the last 6 years, Rajesh Gopinathan has decided to step down from the company to pursue his other interests," said TCS in a stock exchange filing. Gopinathan has been with TCS since 2001 and has held multiple leadership positions, including that of chief financial officer. Under his leadership, TCS shares have nearly tripled, revenue has almost doubled and profit has risen about 60%, as of last quarter.

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N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, TCS, said; “I have had the pleasure of working with Rajesh (Gopinathan) for the past 25 years. During this period, Rajesh has always distinguished himself with exemplary performance in various roles, including his former role as the Chief Financial Officer. Over the last 6 years, Rajesh has providedstrong leadership as the MD & CEO and has laid the foundation for the next phase of TCS’ growth with significant investments in cloud, agile and automation to help clients accelerate their transformation. I am deeply appreciative of Rajesh’s enormous contribution to TCS. I wish him the very best for the future.”

Gopinathan took the reins of TCS from Chandrasekaran who was elevated to the post of Tata Sons Chairman in February 2017.

Rajesh Gopinathan, MD & CEO, TCS, said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my exciting 22 year tenure at TCS. It has been a pleasure working closely with Chandra, who has mentored me through this entire period. The last six years of leading this iconic organization have been most enriching and fulfilling, adding over $10 billion in incremental revenues and over $70 billion increase in market capitalisation.”

He added: “I have been harboring a few ideas on what I want to do in the next phase of my life. After deep reflection and in discussion with the Chairman and the Board, we decided that the end of this fiscal year is a good time for me to step aside and pursue those interests. Having worked with Krithi over the last two decades, I am confident that he is best positioned to take TCS to greater heights along with the leadership team. I will be working closely with Krithi to give him all the support that he needs.”

TCS CEO designate Krithivasan is also a member of the Board of Directors of TCS Iberoamerica, TCS Ireland and the supervisory board of TCS Technology Solutions AG. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Madras and a Master’s Degree in Industrial and Management Engineering from IIT Kanpur.

On Thursday, TCS scrip on BSE closed trading 0.5% lower at Rs 3,182.

This is the second major leadership change in the Indian IT sector within a week. Last week, Infosys president Mohit Joshi quit the firm and joined Tech Mahindra as MD and CEO designate to take over the charge from CP Gurnani, who will retire in December.

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