- TCS has appointed Aarthi Subramanian as its new President and Chief Operating Officer (COO)
- She will manage operations at the $30 billion IT services behemoth
- Her appointment is a milestone in history as the first lady COO of the Indian IT sector
TCS has appointed Aarthi Subramanian as its President and Chief Operating Officer, placing the responsibility of managing operations at the $30 billion IT major on her shoulders. Her appointment is a landmark one, with her being the first woman to take up the COO role in India's IT sector—an industry where gender diversity at the top rung of leadership continues to remain severely restricted.
Aarthi's career at TCS commenced in 1989 as a graduate trainee, and throughout the years, she has graduated to top positions to become a pillar of the company—gaining the sobriquet "Ms Fixit" for her fix-it skills. A seasoned player with strong strengths in delivery excellence, account management, and large programs execution, she emerged as TCS' go-to troubleshooter. She assumed responsibility for governance, compliance, and risk management in 2014, in which she had HR and legal compliances and internal controls under her charge.
Prior to becoming the worldwide head of delivery excellence, Aarthi worked for seven years heading the delivery operations of TCS's retail and consumer packaged goods business, handling multiple strategic customers. She was also instrumental in setting up the SAP Centre of Excellence in Chennai and was a strong business excellence driver, frequently attending client meetings representing TCS along with the CTO's office.
A Tata Group insider called her a very well-respected professional with strong credibility within the group. She is also said to have a close working relationship with Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran, having worked with him both at TCS and Tata Sons.
In 2017, she moved from Executive Director at TCS to Chief Digital Officer at Tata Sons and subsequently was a Non-Executive Director at TCS. She also represented Tata Sons on the boards of Tata Capital, Tata AIA Life Insurance, Infiniti Retail (Croma), and Tata Electronics. With her new full-time executive position at TCS from May 1, she will resign from these board positions to devote time to building TCS's delivery capabilities.
Aarthi’s appointment is a historic moment in Indian IT, when very few women have held executive leadership positions. She takes up the vacancy left by previous COO N. Ganapathy Subramaniam, who retired last year after 40 years of service. Her appointment is seen by industry players as an encouraging move, marking a departure towards increased gender balance in Indian leadership in the tech sector.
TCS CEO K. Krithivasan made the following comments at a recent earnings press meeting, "She knows TCS well. She was on our board and managed digital strategy for Tata Group. Her experience of reading business performance and tech uptake will be really useful." She will continue serving as COO until 2030, falling in line with the company's retirement policy, while Krithivasan is retiring in 2029. Whether she'll take over the mantle from him as Managing Director is to be seen.
