TCS said on Thursday that Gopinathan has resigned and the board of the company has appointed K Krithivasan as the CEO designate effective March 16.
“It is a continuum. It is not that we come up with a new strategy or no new set of priorities at TCS as every CEO changes,” said Krithivasan, who is moving to Mumbai from TCS’ Chennai office. “We have a core set of beliefs focussing on employees and customers. It is the most important engine that drives our growth,” he said.
He added: “What we focus on is a core principle like strategy and which we will tweak as we go along. Our core principle is to work closely with customers to ensure we lookout for what their needs are as proactively as possible. And work with our associates who have been the bedrock of our success so they perform very well. Do not expect a great strategic or organisational change.”
Talking about the new leadership for the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) vertical, he said TCS has a huge, deep talent pool available. “Since BFSI is the largest business vertical, even folks who are not in BFSI today at TCS have deep knowledge. It’s early days but we will ensure there is a smooth transition,” he added.
BFSI contributes to almost 32% of the company’s $25-billion-plus revenue. The company’s stocks were trading down by 0.4% (Rs 3,170) on BSE.
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Feeling liberatedOutgoing CEO Gopinathan said the decision to quit had taken centrestage for him a couple of months back and he initiated definitive discussions with the board and chairman about a week ago.
“Till a week back, it was all-consuming and now over the past 48 hours, it’s just been completely liberating. I have no clue what I’m going to do. I’m just in a very different space, and very, very happy. And looking forward to that, you know, to actually having a reset,” he said.
ETtechHe added the exit was timed in a way that Krithivasan could take over at the start of the next fiscal year.
TCS chief operating officer N Ganapathy Subramaniam is also set to retire in May 2024 and Gopinthan said the company has enough time to assess an appropriate successor for the role.
“As far as the global macro economic environment is concerned, I don’t think we are in a majorly concerning situation. There is inflationary pressure, there is talk of recession and it maybe more severe than what we thought it was. But that’s all part and parcel of the business cycle and the business environment that we operate in,” said Gopinathan adding that TCS is resilient and well placed to handle the situation.
Fifty-two year old Gopinathan has been at TCS for 22 years and was the CEO for six years. Experts have called his exit a huge surprise given TCS’ stable leadership legacy. However, Krithivasan, who has been at TCS for 33 years, is seen as a strong candidate.
Gopinathan will help Krithivasan transition into the new role. September 15 will be his last day at the company. Krithivasan who is 59 years old, will have a five-year term. The retirement age for executives at TCS is 65, said Gopinathan.
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