Tech Mahindra Built Around Customers, Not An Individual: CP Gurnani On Succession Plan

Tech Mahindra Ltd. won't get impacted by an incoming leadership change as its business strategy is built around its customers, according to CP Gurnani, who is set to retire as the firm's chief executive and managing director at the end of this year.

"This is a running train and the reality is that I will have a reasonable transition period between me and the new leader," Gurnani said, during the company’s investor day meet on March 3. "So, clearly, the assumption is A: the leadership team is here to stay; and B: I would be a part of the team to ensure that the transition happens."

"(Tech Mahindra's) strategy is built around the customer; it is not built around the individual," he said. "Because the strategy has been drawn up with inputs from some of our key customers."

Gurnani's comments come against the backdrop of speculations about who will replace him at the helm of affairs at the Mahindra Group firm.

According to PTI, Jagdish Mitra, Manish Vyas, and Lakshmanan Chidambaram are seen as frontrunners to the post.

• Jagdish Mitra, who has been with Tech Mahindra for 30 years, is the IT company’s chief strategy officer and head of growth. 

• Manish Vyas, who has been with Tech Mahindra for 23 years, is the president of the firm's communications, media and entertainment business. 

• Lakshmanan Chidambaram, who has been with the company since December 2012, is the president of Tech Mahindra Americas.

"It is always of (a) year of challenges and results," Gurnani had told BQ Prime, after Tech Mahindra's third-quarter results, when asked about his plans for his final year at the helm of affairs. "The team at Tech Mahindra is committed to make this a great year, not only for me but for the industry."

Gurnani is on his way out of Tech Mahindra at a time when India's fifth largest IT services firm has identified products and platforms as a key growth area—so much so, that the firm has carved out the business as a separate vertical and committed Rs 700 crore towards it over the next two years.

"Currently, P&P is approx. $450 million," Gurnani said, about its contribution to the company's revenue mix. "The assumption is that in the next two-three years, we expect that to become $1 billion."

Tech Mahindra entered the products and platforms business in 2012, when it acquired a 51% stake in Comviva Technologies Ltd.—a Bharti Group company involved in mobile value-added services. In 2017, it acquired a further 22.14% stake.

The Comviva team has been tasked with leading the entire P&P play. The entire Rs 700-crore investment will be funded by the company itself, Gurnani said.