It is not every day that a man gets to rise to the very top from the very bottom, after spending 37 years at one company. It is also not every day that one gets to lead a giant, transforming it from a $150 million (Rs694.5 crore now) company in 1996 to a $6 billion global information technology (IT) firm in 2009. S. Ramadorai has had the unique privilege of doing both, and he hung up his boots this month after spending almost four decades at Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS). In recognition of his contribution to building India’s IT industry, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2006 and the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2009.
TCS is India’s biggest and one of Asia’s top IT services and consultancy firms, with revenue of $6 billion and 143,000 consultants on its rolls. It is one of the jewels of not just the Tata group but of India, and has played a stellar role in putting the country on the global IT map. This is one of the most remarkable transformations for TCS, which achieved two tough tasks, both at the same time—moving from private ownership, and that too inside a conservative business conglomerate, to public ownership in a brutal, aggressive global marketplace, and from a predominantly local to a largely global firm.
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Ramadorai’s career has some interesting business lessons for all leaders. First, when he took over the reins at TCS, he was allowed little space for many years by F.C. Kohli, considered the doyen of India’s IT sector. Despite all his leadership successes, Ramadorai was consigned to Kohli’s shadow for many years. In contrast, Ramadorai not just groomed his successor, the dynamic and aggressive N. Chandrasekaran, for many years, but when the hour came, he moved out of the corner office at TCS headquarters in Mumbai, allowing Chandrasekaran the space to grow. This is a rare act of selfless leadership that one does not often see in India’s corporate sector, where established titans continue to try to hold the remote control while appointing their successors.
Second, Ramadorai’s middle name is humility. Anyone who writes to him usually gets a response within 4-5 hours, unless he is on a flight, and he always has time for mentoring younger leadership. In fact, I believe he is so understated because of his innate humility and that it has often prevented him from reaching the visibility he otherwise could have if he had been more outward-oriented like many of his peers. Many believe that had he focused as much on branding himself as he did on his work, he could well be one of India’s best choices for leading the IT ministry. And why not? If he can lead and transform an organization like TCS in the midst of various challenges from every possible quarter—uncertain government regulations, fierce younger competitors who were much more nimble, a Tata culture that is often considered fairly laid-back by some—to an aggressive global company, why can’t he lead a ministry and grow it to new heights?
Third, that Ramadorai and TCS virtually saved the Tata group by infusing millions of dollars into it, which allowed the group itself to grow into a global powerhouse, is a well-known story and needs little repetition.
Last, it is under his direct leadership that TCS’ government business has grown from virtually nothing to a few hundred million dollars, competing with the likes of International Business Machines Corp., Capgemini SA, Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. and Electronic Data Systems Corp.
Chandrasekaran is a study in contrasts in many ways. He is considered to be much more aggressive, is known to move TCS as an organization very fast (which insiders will tell you is such a challenge in any gigantic organization), is more SMS-savvy (than email) than his mentor and has been quietly moving the pieces on the chessboard to place key individuals in global positions to be able to take TCS into its next orbit. He has a remarkably balanced head on his shoulders, which is such a critical ingredient at 45 to lead a $6 billion entity to, who knows, perhaps $20 billion by 2020?
TCS has been working on strengthening its global brand much more recently than its competitors and this along with retaining talent, investing more in relevant research and development and, most importantly, increasing both the size of the pie and TCS’ share of it remain Chandrasekaran’s key challenges.
By all counts, Ramadorai and Chandrasekaran’s story is India’s story. They reflect and embody the ambitions, aspirations, discipline, confidence and talent of millions of Indians who are finally breaking out into the world and planting the Indian flag firmly all over, with nothing more than their education, wisdom and values to propel them. This, if anything, is Ramadorai’s true legacy and Chandrasekaran’s future. Ratan Tata, by leading Ramadorai, Chandrasekaran and TCS to such heights, has shown to the world that the House of Tatas is now straining at its leash to rule the world. Not just the IT world, but the global business landscape—as an Indian firm ready to rule it.
Srivatsa Krishna is a Harvard MBA and an Indian Administrative Service officer. He writes weekly on business, government, infrastructure and entrepreneurship. The views expressed here are his own. Respond to this column at offtherecord@livemint.com