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TCS CEO Krithi Krithivasan Sets Out Priorities On First Day

Krithi Krithivasan, a veteran of 34 years at Tata Consultancy Services, has taken over as CEO from Rajesh Gopinathan.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>Kritihi Krithivasan, chief executive officer at Tata Consultancy Services. (Photo: TCS)</p></div>
Kritihi Krithivasan, chief executive officer at Tata Consultancy Services. (Photo: TCS)

Krithi Krithivasan has set his priorities straight on the first day of taking on the role as chief executive officer of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.

"As we step into the next phase of TCS, we will continue our investments in key, emerging areas like cloud cybersecurity, 5G, IoT, Generative AI, etc., with an unrelenting focus on customer relationships and impeccable delivery,” the new CEO said, in a letter to TCS employees.

BQ Prime has seen a copy of the letter.

On Thursday, Krithivasan—a veteran of 34 years at India's largest IT firm—took the helm from Rajesh Gopinathan, who resigned earlier this year. Until now, he was president and global head of TCS' all-important banking, financial services and insurance vertical, which brings in about 30% of the company's overall revenue.

A graduate in mechanical engineering from the Coimbatore Institute of Technology and an M.Tech in industrial and management engineering from IIT Kanpur, Krithivasan has been a "TCSian" for life, serving the company in various positions of delivery, customer relationship management and sales over more than three decades.

“During this time, I have had the opportunity to work with many of you and built long-lasting friendships, which I cherish the most,” he said. "I have also had the opportunity to work with many of our key clients across different geographies and build deep customer relationships. I step into this role on the strength of these friendships and relationships."

Krithivasan has a nod of approval from industry watchers as well.

In him, TCS has found within its ranks a CEO who will ensure business continuity at India's largest IT services firm, according to analysts.

"Given Mr. Krithi’s long tenure at TCS (34 years), we expect the company to maintain its operational performance," Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. said in a note in March. Apart from the BFSI vertical, he has experience across roles and that "should help TCS maintain its track record of seamless transition".

Nirmal Bang Securities Pvt. saw not too many challenges before Krithi, except that of demand. "We have known of Krithivasan's existence for a few years despite his low profile, but were not aware that he was being groomed to be the successor."

As a business leader, Krithivasan enjoys a positive view, both inside and outside the company. The change at the helm doesn't point to a risk of attrition in the upper echelons of the company, according to Motilal Oswal. "He is unlikely to face external questions on client relationships that Mr. Gopinathan faced as CFO of TCS in 2017."

On Thursday, shares of TCS rose 0.98% to Rs 3,323.30 apiece on the BSE, even as the benchmark Sensex ended the day 0.31% lower at 62,428.54 points.