TCS can navigate through global tumult, says CEO
MUMBAI: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd’s chief executive officer (CEO) Rajesh Gopinathan says the company can navigate its way through any immediate disruptions to the global economy and tap into long-term demand for its services as it seeks to reach $50 billion in sales by the end of the decade.
TCS, the largest player in India’s $227 billion tech services industry, must deal with a host of challenges, from covid outbreaks in China that are disrupting supply chains to the war in Ukraine as it upends the geopolitics of Europe. The company also provides tech services and support to thousands of companies in the US and beyond that are adopting hybrid labour strategies, with employees working both from home and the office.
“The long-term demand environment is very strong,” Gopinathan said in an interview at the company’s headquarters in Mumbai. “We’re leaning forward. We’re betting on growth.”
India’s outsourcing industry was built on the concept of helping companies replacing their own pricey technology workers with lower cost, and typically higher skilled, specialists from companies such as TCS, Infosys Ltd, and Wipro Ltd.
However, easy growth from labour arbitrage has largely disappeared, forcing Gopinathan and his peers to move into more sophisticated offerings, such as cybersecurity, cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
TCS last month revamped its internal structure with specialized groups as part of a wider move to win business from startups as well as large global enterprises. That overhaul, Gopinathan said, was executed in less than a month.