Disruption, Digitisation & Demand

Nehru Science Centre Lockdown Lecture Series.

‘Disruption, Digitisation & Demand’ 

by Padma Bhushan Shri S Ramadorai, Former CEO, TCS.

As we enter into the next phase of the Lockdown in Mumbai, which unfortunately is the worst sufferer due to the Covid Pandemic, Nehru Science Centre will continue to remain closed for public. In our endeavor to remain connected with our audience, we have brought the best of experts to address our visitors from our digital platform (lockdown lecture series and other events and programs). Our next lockdown lecture will be delivered by Padma Bhushan, Shri S Ramadorai, Former Vice Chairman, Tata Consultancy Services, Mumbai, on 8th June 2020 at 11 AM.  Shri Ramadorai, a doyen of IT industry, is one of the IT pioneers in India who has helped TCS to be a leading global IT Company. He will be speaking on “Disruption, Digitization and Demand”, which seem to be a way forward for all of us in the new norm, which the Covid pandemic has ushered.

The Indian IT industry is now a name to reckon with globally.  It is not for nothing that it prompted the then American presidential candidate - Barack Obama - during his electioneering campaign trail in Buffalo, while addressing his electorate, to draw attention of the crowd to Bangalore & IT and emphasised that India was taking away the jobs of people of Buffalo and other Americans. Perhaps it is for this reason that the word ‘Bangalored’ has entered into the lexicon of English language. The Indian IT industry has grown and diversified much too rapidly and is now a 190 plus billion dollar industry. From a humble beginning of IT outsourcing jobs that Indian IT companies started, prompting Thomas Friedman to write his best selling book ‘ The World is Flat : A Brief History of the Twenty First Century’ where he chronicles the convergence of technology and events that followed in the later part of the twentieth century that helped countries like India to become part of the global supply chain for IT services and manufacturing, the Indian IT has now become a global brand. This IT boom has helped in creation of an explosion of opportunities for IT professionals in India to create wealth and new opportunities for themselves and for others.

There are innumerable IT companies including the very well known companies like Infosys, Wipro, etc, which collectively constitute the Indian It industry. But then the company that deserves major credit for ushering the IT revolution in India, in my opinion, must go to TCS - Tata Consultancy Services. Tatas as a group is one of the best value brand in the corporate world, which is known for their par excellence governance and philanthropy. Whatever vicissitudes of fortune may have come the way of the Tata Group, the contributions of TCS, one of the companies under the Tata Group, has been extraordinary and path breaking. TCS as a company was founded in 1968 as ‘Tata Computer Systems’ and FC Kohli was appointed as the CEO of the company, which later on became a Public listed company in 2004.

Our speaker, Padma Bhushan, S. Ramadorai, joined TCS as a trainee engineer in 1969. And when he relinquished charge as the managing director of the TCS company in 2009, TCS had become one of the world’s largest software and services companies. When Ramadorai took over the CEO mantle from F.C. Kohli in the year 1996, the company revenues were pegged at Rs 600 crore. In just thirteen years of his tenure as the CEO and MD of TCS Ramadorai was able to convert TCS into a whopping Rs 36,000-crore global IT giant.

Born in Nagpur, Ramadorai finished his schooling and graduation in Delhi, before leaving for the University of California for a master’s in science. The TCS innings began soon thereafter, in 1969. He spent his early years in TCS under the leadership of its founder FC Kohli and imbibed all his ideas and ideals. He was asked to head US operations and this opportunity gave him a ringside view of business evolving in sync with constant upgradations in technology. This held him in good stead during his leadership years. The edifice that he built for TCS has helped the company to continue to scale newer and newer heights of unprecedented proportions. He globalised TCS, built a very strong sales and delivery engine, and created leaders like N. Chandrasekaran, the current  Chairman of Tata Group, who made TCS the star that it is. In 2002, he was the only Indian CEO to make it to the list of the top 25 most influential consultants in the world by the Consulting magazine. He has been conferred with plenty of awards and recognition including the Padma Bhushan.

I was privileged and honoured to be standing next to him as one of the awardees of the 16th NES Jagadguru Sankaracharya Sri. Jayendra Saraswati National Eminence Award during which he was awarded the National Eminence Award at the hands of the Jagadguru Sankaracharya Sri. Jayendra Saraswati.

You are all cordially invited for the lecture.

Image of Shri Ramadorai seated on sofa : Courtesy Economic Times