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Tata Sons has appointed Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, and N Chandrasekaran, CEO & Managing Director, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as Additional Directors on the Tata Sons Board.
While this may seem as just another move by the Tata Group to bolster its position on the board, analysts tracking the company say that the elevation could be an indication of Chandrasekaran being the frontrunner for the position of Tata Sons Chairman.
Announcing the appointments, Ratan Tata, Interim Chairman, Tata Sons, said: “This is in recognition of their exemplary leadership in their companies.”
Company insiders said that good leadership is what the group needs and the fact that Tata has recognised the leadership of Chandrasekaran is probably an indication of what’s to come. “I am humbled by this honour and I look forward to contributing to the board,” Chandra said in a statement.
Humble beginning Chandra has been a rockstar performer for the Group, making TCS the jewel in Tata Sons’ crown. Born in an agricultural family, his father, Srinivasan Natarajan, was a lawyer by profession, but managed the family farm.
Chandra studied in a Tamil-medium government school initially and graduated from the Coimbatore Institute of Technology with a degree in Applied Sciences.
He has a postgraduate degree in computer applications from the Regional Engineering College, Tiruchi.
From there, he joined TCS in 1987, and moved up the ladder to become its CEO and Managing Director. In addition to taking TCS to higher glory, Chandra has also often been the flag bearer for the Indian IT sector in many international forums.
According to other sources close to the Tata camp, while Chandra may be in the running, the selection committee will also look outside the group.
“The selection committee will follow a process. It was done last time also, before Cyrus Mistry was appointed. A number of external candidates were looked at then and this time also the selection panel will do the same before deciding,” said a source.
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