Rajesh Gopinathan Resigns As TCS CEO, K Krithivasan To Be His Successor

Krithivasan will go through a transition with Rajesh Gopinathan and will be appointed as the Managing Director and CEO in the next financial year, TCS said

Rajesh Gopinathan, MD and CEO of IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), resigned on Thursday after serving 22 years with the company in different roles. TCS in a release said that K Krithivasan is being appointed as the new TCS CEO effective today. 

The company in a statement said, "After a stellar career of over 22 years with TCS and a successful stint as Managing Director and CEO during the last 6 years, Rajesh Gopinathan has decided to step down from the company to pursue his other interests."

Gopinathan will continue with the company till September 15, 2023 to provide transition and support to his successor.

The 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 and CEO in the next financial year, TCS said. 

On the departure of Rajesh Gopinathan, TSC Chairman N. Chandrasekaran said, “Over the last 6 years, Rajesh has provided strong leadership as the MD and 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.”

Rajesh Gopinathan 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 $10Bn in incremental revenues and over $70Bn increase in market capitalization.”

Gopinathan was elevated to the role of CEO in February 2017 after serving as the Chief Financial Officer since 2013. In 2022, he was re-appointed as MD and CEO for five more years. Rajesh has played a key role in making TCS the partner of choice for Fortune 500 companies embarking on their growth and transformation journeys. He has been instrumental in helping TCS become a $25.7 billion global company at the end of FY22 and the largest private sector employer with over 613,000 associates.

He was also inducted by the government into the Board of Trade, a top advisory body on external trade, and was awarded India’s Best CEO award by Business Today in January 2021. In 2020 he was awarded IT, person of the Year, by Dataquest, Outstanding Business Leader of The Year award by CNBC TV18 IBLA, and Management Man Achiever of the year by Bombay Management Association in 2019.

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

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.