Tata Consultancy CEO Rajesh Gopinathan resigns in surprise move

BENGALURU - India’s largest IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) said on Thursday that Mr Rajesh Gopinathan will resign as chief executive, just a year into his second five-year term at the helm of the company.

The company named Mr K. Krithivasan as CEO-designate, which took effect on Thursday, and said he will take over as CEO and managing director in the next financial year, subject to shareholders’ approval. He joined TCS in 1989 and has held various leadership roles in the company.

TCS shares, little changed this year, declined 0.31 per cent in Mumbai trading on Friday.

The move comes as the Indian information technology industry faces a challenging macroeconomic environment in its key markets of Europe and the United States while also coming under renewed focus because of its big exposure to the US banking sector, which

is experiencing a financial crisis.

The company said Mr Gopinathan – who was reappointed in 2022 as the Indian IT behemoth’s CEO till 2027 – will leave TCS to pursue other interests.

“While we expect the transition to be smooth, this is sentimentally negative as this is the first CEO resignation at TCS since its incorporation,” Axis Capital analysts said in a note.

Mr Gopinathan has been with TCS since 2001 and has held multiple leadership positions, including that of chief financial officer.

Under his leadership, TCS shares have nearly tripled, revenue has almost doubled and profit has risen about 60 per cent, as at last quarter.

Elsewhere, rival Infosys is also facing top-level attrition, with five senior-level retirements or exits over the last 1½ years.

There are other movements within the IT industry. Cognizant Technology Solutions appointed former Infosys president S Ravi Kumar as CEO this January, and Tech Mahindra recently named another Infosys veteran Mohit Joshi as its CEO. REUTERS