August 2024 | 3583 words | 14-minute read
I must confess that this journey has been quite overwhelming… Equally, it has been very rewarding and satisfying,” says K Krithivasan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
Mr Krithivasan, or Krithi for TCSers, took charge of the company on June 1, 2023. Since then, TCS has crossed annual revenues of $29.08 billion (Rs 2,40,893 crore) (growth that came at an industry-leading operating margin of 24.6%), closed FY24 with an all-time high order book of $42.7 billion and retained its leading position on several other industry standards. All achievements that industry observers believe came with his firm focus on continuity and customer centricity.
Just days after he completed his first year at the helm of TCS, Mr Krithivasan looks back at the journey so far and the way ahead for the bellwether company that marks 20 years of its listing on the Indian bourses this year.
Excerpts from an interview:
On business
What are the focus areas that are driving growth and transformation for your clients?
By the nature of our business, TCS has the privilege of working with a diverse portfolio of clients, across 55 countries and in every industry on the planet. During the past year, I had the opportunity to meet several clients and engage in wide-ranging conversations on technology, their growth plans, how they look at their future, how they are planning to navigate the geopolitical landscape, strengthen their supply chains, create workplaces of the future, and work through changes. The one constant across these conversations is the depth and quality of the relationships that our teams have formed with our customers over the years. This is our foremost strength and asset.
We have been in discussions with them on deepening their digital transformation, completing their move to the cloud, modernising their IT infrastructure and their data estates to be better poised for growth and to improve efficiency and customer experiences in their business.
“I believe the true measure of an organisation’s success lies in the strength of its people. … I once heard Mr Chandrasekaran say that employee empathy is the most important principle. If you take care of your employees, they will, in turn, take care of your customers, which will ensure that your organisation grows. Those are profound words.”
Undoubtedly, the technology wave that has everyone’s attention is AI. We are working extensively with our clients in experimenting with generative AI, scaling up deployments and longer-term strategies on how AI can transform their business ecosystem. The potential is immense. A recent TCS study of 1,300 business executives across the world showed that 94% of them have active plans and deployments in AI, and a clear majority of them consider the potential of this technology to be greater in impact than the internet or the smartphone.
What are the emerging areas that TCS is investing in?
At our recent global leadership meeting, TCS Blitz, we unveiled Refresh. Realign. Reinvent. — a new strategy to determine both our future focus and investments.
Refresh is about strengthening what our customers love about us. How quickly can we differentiate TCS by simplifying and (re)launching offerings with real, true, intrinsic value to customers (in segments or markets)? It is about strengthening what we have been doing all along but modernising it for the current times.
Realign is about solidifying our core and driving excellence in everything we do. It would mean faster decision-making, extreme collaboration, optimised roles, enhanced productivity, less idle time, aligned teams, greater transparency and accountability, and improved positioning overall through insights, data, and tooling. Through this, we wish to raise the ambitions on many of our recent investments.
With Reinvent, we are looking at the next frontier and being future ready. It is about becoming a ‘disruptor’ from being ‘disrupted’ in our field of horizon. It can entail things like getting into new businesses, flexible operating models, encouraging internal crowdsourcing, finding new levers of growth efficiency — innovation, nurture, incubators, autonomous units, and ventures that we are doing.
We are working through many initiatives on these fronts and continue to invest in talent, innovation, our brand, our operating presence and in creating new solutions and businesses.
TCS has retained its Brand Finance ranking as the second Most Valuable IT Services Brand. What are the factors that have contributed to this?
There are many reasons behind this momentum for our brand. The investments we have made consistently over the years in sports sponsorships like marathons, our growing presence in major forums and industry trade shows, and a range of strategic marketing programmes have all started to kick in. Through all these channels, we engage 1,80,000 business leaders with our brand every year.
Additionally, we have seen an uptick in perceptual indices, like customer satisfaction, preference for TCS as a partner and analysts’ assessments of our capabilities. Eighty-one percent of key analyst reports show TCS as a leader in the industry, service line or region they cover.
I also believe that being part of the Tata group — that is known for integrity and business excellence — has immensely contributed to our growing brand value. We believe we are on the right track and will continue to deepen our investments to further strengthen our brand and its relevance to our clients.
TCS closed FY24 with the highest ever order book. Given the global volatility, how can TCS maintain this robustness of business model?
We are proud of the fact that despite a year of tepid growth in the technology industry, TCS has outperformed the market on growth, profitability and in robustness of deal wins. This demonstrates the strong equity and trust we hold with our clients.
We also have one of the most talented and skilled technology workforces in the industry, which is constantly reskilling and reinventing itself. All this gives us the confidence to believe that as the global economy picks up, TCS is well poised to capture new opportunities. I strongly feel our best is yet to come.
If you look at the wider Tata group, the last few years have seen phenomenal performances by all companies despite the headwinds. The culture that our Chairman, N Chandrasekaran, is driving — of a strong performance ethic, finding synergies, creating opportunities for growth, and embracing digital technologies — has inspired the group to a new level of achievement. I have no doubt that this momentum will see us all shape a better future for our companies and communities in the years ahead.
How is TCS doubling down on its foundational pillars of customer centricity and employee empathy?
Customer centricity and employee empathy are the foundation on which we have built our engine of growth. These are not mere words for us, but lie at the very heart and soul of our enterprise.
The change in our organisational structure was undertaken last year with the objective of delivering unparalleled value to customers. For when you stay close to your clients, you not only grow as a business, but also discover opportunities for everyone to grow together. We have been able to deliver the best value to our customers by synergising our domain and contextual knowledge across units. This focus on customer centricity over the past year has helped us keep our No. 1 spot of leadership in customer satisfaction for a record 11th year in a row, as assessed by Whitelane Research.
I believe the true measure of an organisation’s success lies in the strength of its people. Our employees have always been at the forefront of everything we do. I wish to extend my deep gratitude to each of them for their unwavering commitment to our organisation’s growth. I once heard Mr Chandrasekaran say that employee empathy is the most important principle. If you take care of your employees, they will, in turn, take care of your customers, which will ensure that your organisation grows. Those are profound words.
On talent
You made it a point to meet TCS associates through town halls across campuses. What kind of energy and vibrancy did you witness?
Over the past year, I have had wide-ranging conversations with many TCSers on technology, their careers and how they look at their future. These town halls, which we called CEO Connect, are a great two-way opportunity for me to share my thoughts on recent developments and TCS’ strategy and, more importantly, for my colleagues to give their feedback and air their concerns and issues with me directly. Every session leaves me energised and with a profound sense of responsibility to build a better future for my wonderful colleagues.
What steps is TCS taking to upskill employees? How does it intend to create one of the world’s largest AI-ready workforces?
We have training programmes across levels. During the last calendar year, we clocked 51 million+ learning hours with an average of 87 learning hours per associate, with 5.1 million+ competencies, 1,70,000+ external certifications, and 2.3 million+ market relevant competencies. The consensus is that TCS’ L&D programme is currently the best in the market, which makes our employees much sought after. We believe this will reap rich dividends for both the employees and the organisation.
When it comes to creating an AI-ready workforce, let me put things in perspective. At the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos this year, a key area of discussion was AI, the opportunities it poses and how we can use it responsibly. It is imperative for us to remember that the most effective use of GenAI will be in augmenting human creativity, rather than in replacing humans. WEF predicts that AI will be a net creator of 12 million jobs between now and 2027. The need to reskill people must be our first priority, to build this workforce of the future.
In the past year, TCS has made great strides on this front. We combined our cloud and AI units into the AI.Cloud business unit, to focus on capability building. In addition to training 3,50,000+ employees in the foundational skills of GenAI, we launched an immersive AI Experience Zone for associates to build deeper competencies at scale with hands-on experience, providing innovation and experimentation opportunities. This is why I can confidently say we are well on our way to creating one of the largest AI-ready workforces in the world.
You have mentioned that you would like to revive TCS’ engineering culture. Could you please elaborate on that?
The culture of engineering didn’t really go away; it is just that sometimes one’s focus turns to different things. I use the word ‘revive’ in the sense of getting the spotlight back on the engineering culture. We want it to be the central piece of our organisation. I would like employees at all levels to have the ability to learn and interpret any technology quickly. It must be a cultural thing first. The foremost job is to talk about it and tell associates what the firm is going to appreciate. Employees then move along the same trajectory. Secondly, we must enable them with appropriate training and that is why TCS is doubling down on training and associate reskilling. This is a very important mission for us.
On nation building
You have said that the BSNL deal goes beyond financial gains as it is important to India’s development. Could you please elaborate on TCS’ participation in nation-building projects?
The Tata group has always been known for its role in shaping the Indian economy and for being pioneers. TCS imbibes this spirit — that our purpose is to go beyond business and serve the community and nation we operate in.
Much of the country’s key digital infrastructure has been built by TCS. Most of India’s banks and stock exchanges run on core systems that TCS has built, including our TCS BaNCSTM platform. Many e-governance platforms that have improved citizen services have been implanted by TCS; the most remarkable being the Passport Seva Project, for which TCS worked with the Ministry of External Affairs to revolutionise the issuing of passports, which benefits 1,30,000+ citizens a day. We have participated in other vital national missions, including building financial inclusion platforms, post offices and rail services. Now, through our work with BSNL and Tejas Networks, we are serving in the mission to complete India’s telecom journey to 5G and beyond.
There is almost no aspect of the lives of India’s 1.3 billion citizens that is left untouched by a service or technology enabled by TCS. We take great pride in this opportunity we have had to make India a digital nation.
According to India CSR Spending Report 2022-23, TCS is No 1 in CSR expenditure in India. What is TCS’ vision for community development?
Our vision is to empower people and communities, building self-reliance through purpose and technology while ensuring the values of fairness, equity, and respect for human rights. We remain steadfast in our mission to connect people to opportunities in the digital economy while building equitable, inclusive pathways for all, especially women, youth, and marginalised groups.
We recognise that change begins with passionate and skilled individuals who want to make a difference. Our initiative HOPE (Hours of Purpose by Employees) is a movement for the people, by the people. It combines society’s needs, the skills of our employees and civic engagement to create meaningful projects that address the needs of the people and communities where we live and work. TCSers have undertaken several initiatives to protect the environment, by planting trees and cleaning up beaches and neighbourhoods. They have donated blood, raised awareness about mental health and contributed clothes, food, books and toys to those in need. Also, our employees leveraged their expertise to contribute towards programmes like Literacy as a Service and Youth Employment Program by mentoring and training adults and youths to improve their employment prospects and create a better livelihood.
I am proud that this programme has resulted in 6.7 million+ hours dedicated to purpose projects covering the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. There could be no better manifestation of how the Tata group’s values are being lived daily by our employees.
On One Tata
How is TCS adopting the One Tata approach to foster partnerships with Tata companies?
This is something I really wanted to talk about. I am proud of the fact that we have deepened our ties with so many Tata companies. We don’t just share a common name, but actually do a lot of business together to unlock the synergies within.
TCS has the privilege of being a technology partner to many group companies. There is JLR, with whom we are working on the future of electric vehicles and jointly running a Formula E team. With Tata Electronics, we are working on creating a semiconductor ecosystem in India. We are building India’s critical 4G/5G infrastructure with Tejas Networks, enabling Air India’s technology modernisation, and working with Tata Motors to bring an electric fleet to TCS’ facilities.
Working with many of the world’s best companies, we have the unique position to see where technology is headed and the best practices in each industry. It remains my promise to bring the best of talent and technology to bear inside our own group.
Just as we have all started to unlock synergies with each other, there is also great strength and synergy when we go together to work with our global partners, bringing the full strength of the group to bear on these crucial relationships. Be it Boeing, Apple, Siemens, Honeywell, Airbus and so many others, we are all working together more to drive the multifaceted relationships we have with these companies.
Most recently, I would like to congratulate Tata Technologies for the joint venture with BMW; TCS is proud to be supporting them in this venture.
These examples just scratch the surface. I believe there is so much more we can and must do together, as is the vision of our Chairman.
On being CEO and MD
What were the highlights of your first year as CEO and MD of TCS?
I must confess that this journey has been quite overwhelming to start with! Equally, it has been very rewarding and satisfying.
In my previous role as president of the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) Business Group, I gained exposure to some parts of the TCS business. In my current role, there are several components, apart from business, that need to be attended to, along with multiple decisions that have to be taken at any given point in time. But along with the ecosystem that TCS provided during and since the transition last year, countless people have come forward to offer their support. That is probably the best thing about TCS; the whole system wants you to succeed.
As I look back on this year, it has been a good one for TCS. We have continued to outperform the market in financial terms, posting industry-leading record deal wins and profitability; were adjudged the fastest-growing brand in the industry; recognised by Fortune as one of the most admired companies in the world; rated a Top Employer in 32 countries; ranked No 1 in customer satisfaction in our industry, and are well poised for the future.
All of this has been possible only because of the support and trust of my colleagues and the constant encouragement and advice from our board, including our Chairman.
Your journey at TCS has seen you rise to the CEO’s office. What does this say about how the company views its talent and the vast possibilities of growth available to every TCSer?
If you look at the way we have evolved, we have always achieved growth by giving opportunities to our own associates and training them in new technologies. The primary objective of learning is to stay market relevant, obtain the best internal job opportunities and realise your true potential. It might be worthwhile to revisit the statement made by our Chairman a few years ago when he said that there are legacy technologies, no legacy people.
I have never said no to any opportunity that has come my way. The only piece of advice that I would like to give young TCSers is that they need to be perceived as individuals who demonstrate a can-do attitude in their demeanour and remarkable resolve when it comes to achieving the task at hand. This positive disposition towards work will seldom go unnoticed, and, gradually, they will discover that newer and better opportunities will find a way of reaching them. This element of trust inherent in the organisation and attitude that you display at work are crucial to your success in TCS. I urge everyone to dream big and embrace the culture of lifelong learning.
Anyone who joins the company today as a trainee has the potential to one day become the CEO. Just as I did.
—Monali Sarkar and Sharmistha Choudhury
