Krithi Krithivasan To Take Charge As TCS CEO Over Three Months Earlier

Krithi Krithivasan will take over as the chief executive officer of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. on June 1, over three months earlier than planned.

The transition is over, incumbent CEO Rajesh Gopinathan said at a press conference to announce the software services provider's fourth-quarter earnings. He will continue to remain with the IT major till Sept. 15—the previously announced date for Krithivasan's takeover as the CEO.

Krithivasan, president and global head of TCS's BFSI vertical, was appointed as the CEO designate after Gopinathan resigned in a surprise move on March 16.

"My focus so far, over the years, has been on the BFSI side on the business. Now, I'm focusing on learning about the other verticals as well," Krithivasan said.

Gopinathan, 52, had taken the helm of India's largest IT services firm in  February 2017 after his predecessor, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, was elevated as chairman of the group parent Tata Sons Pvt.

He declined to comment on a future role in the company beyond the advisory role till Sept. 15.

Gopinathan's decision to quit comes at a time when Indian IT firms are bracing for a slowdown in the global economy, which could curtail spends as the pandemic-driven tech services boom cools.

Under Gopinathan's leadership, TCS revamped its organisational structure with specialised groups targeted to help startups as well as large global firms, eyeing revenues of up to $50 billion before 2030.

The revenue of India's largest IT services firm increased 1.6% over the previous quarter to Rs 59,162 crore in the three months ended March 31, according to an exchange filing on Wednesday.

Net profit rose 5.08% sequentially at Rs 11,436 crore.

"We are not looking at any structural changes in business strategy at the moment," Krithivasan said.

Despite a banking crisis, TCS' total contract value—or new deal wins—rose to $10 billion in the March quarter on the back of the highest number of large deals. For the full year, the total contract value stood at $34.1 billion.