Natarajan Chandrasekaran

Natarajan Chandrasekaran (born 1963) is the CEO and managing director of Tata Consultancy Services. Chandrasekaran took over as the CEO of TCS on October 6, 2009 prior to which he was COO and executive director of TCS. Born in 1963, Chandra is one of the youngest CEOs of the Tata Group. In January 2017 he was selected to become the next chairman of Tata Sons, a role he will assume in February 2017 and soon after was announced the chairman of Tata Motors.

Chandrasekaran completed his master of computer applications from the Regional Engineering College, Trichy (now National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli), in Tamil Nadu, India in 1986 after obtaining a bachelor's degree in Applied Sciences from the Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Joining TCS in 1987, Chandra took over as CEO on October 6, 2009 prior to which he was COO and executive director of TCS. Chandra is a senior member of Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and an active member of Computer Society of India and British Computer Society. He was nominated as the chairman of Indian IT industry body NASSCOM in April 2012.

Chandra was born in a Tamil family in Mohanur near Namakkal in Tamil Nadu. He resides in Mumbai, with his wife Lalitha and their son, Pranav. Chandra is an avid photographer, music aficionado and a passionate long-distance runner who has completed marathons in Amsterdam, Boston, Chicago, Berlin, Mumbai, New York and Tokyo. He completed his fastest marathon or personal record (PR) at TCS New York City Marathon (2014) with a finishing time of 5 hr 00 min 52 sec.

Chandra has spent his career in TCS, joining the company in 1987 after completing masters in computer applications from Regional Engineering College, Trichy, (now National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli) in Tamil Nadu.

Under his leadership TCS has generated consolidated revenues of US $16.5 billion in 2015-16. With over 353,000 consultants, TCS has become the largest private sector employers in India with the highest retention rate in a globally competitive industry. TCS remains the most valuable company in India ended 2015-16 with a market capitalization of over USD 70 billion. Under Chandra’s leadership, TCS was rated as the world's most powerful brand in IT Services in 2015 and was recognized as a Global Top Employer by the Top Employers Institute across 24 countries.

Chandra personifies TCS’ commitment to a culture of customer centricity, its reputation for long-term customer partnerships as its tradition of re-invention and innovation. A technopreneur known for his ability to make big bets on new technology, Chandra has been driving TCS’ strong positioning in the emerging Digital Economy with a suite of innovative Digital products and platforms for enterprises, some of which have since scaled into sizeable new businesses.

On October 25, 2016 Chandrasekaran, CEO & managing director of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), was appointed as additional director on the Tata Sons Board. On January 12, 2017 he was appointed as the chairman of the Tata Sons.

Chandra has received several awards and recognition in the business community. India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India appointed him as director on its board in 2016. He has served as the Chairperson of the IT Industry Governors’ at the WEF, Davos in 2015-16. Aside from being a member of Indo–US CEO Forum, he is also part of India’s business taskforces for Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan and Malaysia. He served as the chairman of NASSCOM, the apex trade body for IT services firms in India in 2012-13 and continues to be a member of its governing Executive Council.

He was voted as the ‘Best CEO’ for the fifth consecutive year by the Institutional Investor’s 2015 Annual All-Asia Executive Team rankings. During 2014, he was voted as one of CNBC TV 18 - ‘Indian Business Icons'. He was also awarded CNN- IBN Indian of the Year 2014 in business category. Chandra was presented with the “Best CEO for 2014” by Business Today for the second consecutive year. He has also received the Medal of the City of Amsterdam - Frans Banninck Coqc - in recognition of his endeavor to promote trade and economic relations between Amsterdam and India. He was awarded Qimpro Platinum Standard Award 2015 (Business) and Business Today’s Best CEO 2015 (IT & ITEs).

Chandra was conferred with the honorary doctorate by JNTU, Hyderabad, India (2014). He has received Honorary Doctorate from Nyenrode Business Universiteit, Netherland's top private business school (2013). Chandra has also been conferred honorary degrees by many Indian universities such as the Gitam University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh (2013) KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha (2012); and the SRM University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu (2010).