Ratan N. Tata
(Chairman)

Ratan N. Tata has been the Chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, since 1991. He is also the Chairman of the major Tata companies including Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Power, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels, Tata Teleservices and Tata AutoComp. During his tenure, the Group’s revenues have grown over eight-fold to annualised Group revenues of over $ 50 bn. 

Mr. Tata joined the Tata Group in December 1962. After serving in various companies, he was appointed the Director-in-Charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company Limited (NELCO) in 1971. In 1981, he was named Chairman of Tata Industries, the Group’s other holding company, where he was responsible for transforming it into a Group strategy think-tank, and a promoter of new ventures in high technology businesses. He is also the Chairman of two of the largest private sector promoted philanthropic trusts in India.

Mr Tata is associated with various organizations in India and abroad. He is the Chairman of the Government of India’s Investment Commission and a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry, the National Hydrogen Energy Board and the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council. He also serves on the International Investment Council set up by the President of the Republic of South Africa and the UK Prime Minister’s Business Council for Britain. He is also a member of the International Advisory Council of Singapore’s Economic Development Board, the Asia-Pacific Advisory Committee to the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange and of the international advisory boards of the Mitsubishi Corporation, the American International Group, JP Morgan Chase and Rolls Royce. He also serves on the boards of Fiat SpA and Alcoa.

Mr Tata is President of the Court of the Indian Institute of Science and Chairman of the Council of Management of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Cornell University and the University of Southern California and of the Foundation Board of the Ohio State University. He is also a member of the Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS and the Programme Board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's India AIDS Initiative.

Mr. Tata received a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture with Structural Engineering from Cornell University in 1962. He worked briefly with Jones and Emmons in Los Angeles, before returning to India in late 1962. He completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 1975.

The Government of India has announced that Mr. Tata will be honoured with its second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, later this year.  Earlier, in 2000, he had been awarded the Padma Bushan. He has also been conferred an honorary doctorate in Business Administration by the Ohio State University, an honorary doctorate in Technology by the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, an honorary doctorate in Science by the University of Warwick, and an honorary fellowship by the London School of Economics.

Laura M Cha
(Director)

Laura M Cha is a member of the Executive Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Non-Executive Chairman of HSBC Investment Asia Holdings Limited.

Between 2001 and 2004, she served as the vice-chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the first person to be invited from outside Mainland China to serve in the Central government of the People's Republic of China. Her efforts were focused on improving the corporate governance of Chinese listed companies and the process of public issuance of shares in China. She is currently the vice chairman of the International Advisory Council of the CSRC.

Before joining CSRC, Cha had 10 years experience at Hong Kong's capital markets regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission, and was appointed deputy chairman in 1998. She is also an Independent Non-Executive Director of Johnson Electric Holdings, Baoshan Iron and Steel Co., and Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Ltd. She is also a Non-Executive Director of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation as well as China's Bank of Communications. She is a member of the International Council of the Asia Society in New York and senior advisor to Investor AB, a Swedish conglomerate. Mrs. Cha has been awarded a Silver Bauhinia Star in 2001 by the Hong Kong Government for her public service.

Laura was educated in the US, with a BA from the University of Wisconsin and a law degree from the University of Santa Clara. She practiced law in the 1980’s in San Francisco with Pillsbury, Madison and Sutro, and in Hong Kong with Coudert Brothers. She was awarded a Silver Bauhinia Star medal in 2001 by the Government of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong for her outstanding public service. 

Naresh Chandra
(Director)

Naresh Chandra joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1956 and was Cabinet Secretary from 1990 to 1992. Subsequently, he was appointed Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister of India from 1992 to 1995. Chandra has functioned as Chairman of the Committee on Corporate Governance set up by the Union Ministry of Finance and Company Affairs in 2002.

Clayton M. Christensen
(Director)

Clayton M. Christensen is the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, with a joint appointment in the Technology & Operations Management and General Management faculty groups. His research and teaching interests center on managing innovation and creating new growth markets.

Professor Christensen holds a B.A. with highest honors in economics from Brigham Young University (1975), and an M.Phil. in applied econometrics and the economics of less-developed countries from Oxford University (1977), where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He received an MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School in 1979, graduating as a George F. Baker Scholar. He was awarded his DBA from the Harvard Business School in 1992.

A seasoned entrepreneur, Christensen has founded three successful companies. The first, CPS Corporation, is an advanced materials manufacturing company that he founded in 1984 with several MIT professors. The second, Innosight, is a consulting and training company focused on problems of strategy, innovation, and growth that Christensen founded with several of his former students in 2000. Innosight Capital, the third firm, was launched in 2005. From 1979 to 1984 he worked with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In 1982 Professor Christensen was named a White House Fellow, and served as assistant to U.S. Transportation Secretaries Drew Lewis and Elizabeth Dole.

Professor Christensen became a faculty member at the Harvard Business School in 1992. He is author or co-author of five books: The Innovator's Dilemma (1997), which received the Global Business Book Award for the best business book published in 1997; The Innovator's Solution (2003), also a New York Times best seller; and Seeing What's Next (2004). In addition, he has edited two case books on innovation: Innovation and the General Manager (1999) and Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation, 4th edition (2004). He presently is completing two books that examine the problems of our healthcare and public education systems through the lenses of his theories. These also will show how the problems in these industries can be resolved.

Aman Mehta
(Director)

Aman Mehta was born in New Delhi in 1946. After graduating from Delhi University with an economics degree in 1967, he joined the Bombay office of Mercantile Bank Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.

Following training in the Bank's London office, Mehta returned to the Group's operations in India. Since 1969, he has held a number of assignments throughout the Bank, including appointments in Operations, Credit, Branch and Area Management and Merchant Banking. In 1985, he was appointed Manager Corporate Planning at The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation's headquarters in Hong Kong. In January 1988, he moved to Riyadh to take up the post of Managing Director of The Saudi British Bank, a 40 percent owned associate of The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.

In May 1991, Mehta was appointed Group General Manager and, following a brief strategic planning assignment in North America, he was appointed General Manager International in February 1992 with responsibility for overseas subsidiaries.

In January 1993, Mehta took up the appointment of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HSBA USA Inc., the New York-based arm of HSBC Holdings plc set up to exercise oversight of Group companies in the Americas, before being appointed in November 1995 as Deputy Chairman of HSBC Bank Middle East, based in Dubai with responsibility for the Group's operations in the Middle East region.

Mehta was re-appointed General Manager International of The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in February 1998, Executive Director International in May 1998 and Chief Executive Officer in January 1999. Mehta also became Chairman of HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad on 1 January, 1999, and a Director of HSBC Bank Australia Limited.

Mehta retired from HSBC wef 31 December, 2003 and has returned to live in New Delhi on permanent resettlement, with a second home in New York. He is an independent non-executive director of several public companies in India as well as overseas. These include:

• PCCW Limited, Hong Kong
• Raffles Holdings Limited, Singapore
• Wockhardt Limited, Mumbai
• Tata Consultancy Services Limited, Mumbai
• Jet Airways (India) Limited, Mumbai
• Vedanta Resources plc, London
• Max Healthcare Institute Limited, New Delhi
• Godrej Consumer Products Limited, Mumbai
• Cairn India Limited

In addition, Mehta is a member of the Governing Board of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad and of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi. He is also a Member of the Advisory Council of INSEAD, France. Mr. Mehta is married and has two children.

Dr. Ron Sommer
(Director)

Dr. Sommer has a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Vienna and is the former chairman of the board of management of Deutsche Telekom between 1995 and 2002. He brings his extensive global experience in telecom and other sectors to the TCS board.

In addition to being a Director of TCS, Dr Sommer holds the following positions:

• Member, Supervisory Board of Munich Re (Germany)
• Chairman, Advisory Board and Director, AFK Systema (Russia)
• Member, International Advisory Board, Blackstone Group (USA)
• Member, Supervisory Board, Celanese AG (Germany)
• Director, Motorola Inc. (USA)

Prior to joining Deutsche Telekom, Dr. Sommer spent 15 years (1980-1995) with Japan's Sony Corp managing its German, US and European operations.

Venkatraman Thyagarajan
(Director)

Venkatraman Thyagarajan (Thyagi) is responsible for GlaxoSmithKline operations in Asia Pacific and is based at the Company's Headquarters in Singapore. Prior to his current position, Thyagarajan served as Vice President of South Asia since 2001. He has served on the Board of Glaxo India since 1992 and began his tenure as Managing Director in 1994. He is now the Vice Chairman of GlaxoSmithKline India.

A true veteran of GlaxoSmithKline, Thyagarajan has been with the company for over 34 years. He began his career as a Management Trainee for Glaxo India in September 1970. Thyagarajan has held various increasingly senior positions throughout his career, including Marketing Consultant for Europe, Area Marketing Director for Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe as well as the Area Director for South East Asia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan. Thyagarajan received a B. Tech (Elec) and M.B.A from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. Mr Thyagarajan is married to Anuradha and they have two daughters. He is a keen tennis player and music enthusiast.

S. Ramadorai
(Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director )

S. Ramadorai, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy Services Limited, has been associated with the Company for the past 36 years. Joining as a trainee engineer, Ramadorai took over as CEO in 1996 and has been instrumental in building TCS to a $5.7 Billion global software and services company. With a talent base of over 111,000 associates, a geographical reach of 50 countries and an enviable client list which includes seven of the Top Ten Fortune companies. Ramadorai has now set his sights on ensuring that TCS is among the global Top Ten software companies. In October 2006, TCS was recognized by Economic Times as the Company of the year, a fitting tribute to its increasing global presence.

Ramadorai's vision is evident through the active role he played in establishing Offshore Development Centers (ODCs) in India to provide high-end quality solutions to major corporations. With a view to remain abreast with changing technologies at all times, Ramadorai set up Technology Excellence Centers in India that have acquired knowledge, expertise and equipment in specialized technology areas.

His key initiatives include his relentless pursuit of excellence in quality. Under his leadership TCS was awarded the CII-Exim Bank Quality Award for 2006. In August 2004, TCS became the world's first organization to achieve an integrated Enterprise wide Maturity Level 5 on both Capability Maturity model and People Capability Maturity model, these are frameworks conceptualized by the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, to benchmark and appraise the software process and people management process of an organization.

Ramadorai continues to maintain strong links with the world of academia. He is a member of the Corporate Advisory Board, Marshall School of Business (USC) as well as other Boards of reputed Indian academic institutions. Among his other distinctions, Ramadorai is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and of the Indian National Academy of Engineering.

Ramadorai firmly believes that learning is a continual process, which does not end with formal education. With this in mind, he has striven to make TCS a learning organisation, conducive to developing ones full potential. TCS spends 6 % of its annual turnover on training and development and has invested in a world -class Training Centre in Thiruvanthipuram. Additionally, each year, every TCSer has the opportunity to undergo 20 days training.

In November 2006 Ernst & Young awarded Ramadorai the Entrepreneur Manager of the Year award. He has been recognized by Computer Business Review in July 2006 as 6th most influential IT leader in the world. In recognition of Ramadorai's commitment and dedication to the IT industry he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in January 2006.

He is also increasingly being recognized as a leader of global standing. Mr Ramadorai was presented by Prime Minister Blair, the UK Trade and Investment Special Recognition Award in September 2005 for TCS’ exemplary contribution to India – UK economic ties

Dataquest has recognized him as the "IT Man of the year" for 2004. Business India recognized him as the Businessman of the Year (2004). Computer Business Review named him the 5th most Influential person in IT in 2004; in September 04, the Indo American Chamber of Commerce recognized him with an award for promoting Indo-US Business Excellence. Anna University conferred upon him a Doctorate (Honoris Causa). More recently the Sastra University also conferred him with a degree of Doctor of Sciences (Honoris Causa) in 2006.

During 2003, Ramadorai was honoured with the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. In 2002, he was awarded with CNBC Asia Pacific's prestigious 'Asia Business Leader of the Year' Award. He has been honoured with the position of 'IT Advisor to Qingdao City', People's Republic of China. As a former Chairman of the National Association of Software Companies (NASSCOM), Ramadorai continues to extend his support to the Indian IT Industry.

As an individual deeply committed to the House of Tatas, Ramadorai holds Chairmanships and Directorships of other Group companies. He is also on the Board of Directors of premier companies such as Hindustan Lever Ltd and Nicholas Piramal India Ltd.

His academic credentials include a Bachelors degree in Physics from Delhi University, India, a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Telecommunications from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, and a Masters degree in Computer Science from the University of California - UCLA, USA. In 1993, Ramadorai attended the Sloan School of Management's highly rated Senior Executive Development Program.

N. Chandrasekaran
(Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director)

N Chandrasekaran (or Chandra as he is well-known) is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and the Executive Director. He is also a key member of the TCS corporate strategy group.

Responsible for the formulation and execution of the company's global strategy, Chandra has been at helm of several key strategic transitions in TCS including expanding its business portfolio to include BPO, Infrastructure and Consulting services. Under his leadership, TCS pioneered the creation of its unique Global Network Delivery Model (GNDM™) and ventured into new markets including Europe, China and Latin America.

Chandra has been a champion of software and business quality in the industry. He has been the chief architect of TCS' Integrated Quality Management System, the quality model that was instrumental in TCS' becoming the first CMMI and PCMM level-5 organization in the world. He also established the company's 'E-business' practice, and was responsible for setting up one of India's largest Offshore software development centers in Mumbai.

He is on the board of several TCS subsidiaries. He is a member of Executive Council, National Association of Software & Service Companies (Nasscom). He is also a Director of E2E SerWizol Solutions Limited (A subsidiary of Tata Sons Limited) and NABARD Consultancy Services (P) Ltd.

Chandra is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and an active member of Computer Society of India and the British Computer Society. He is also a regular contributor to conferences and seminars on Information Technology around the world. In April 2006, he was named by Consulting Magazine in the USA as one of the top 25 most influential consultants in the world.

He completed his Masters Degree in Computer Applications from the Regional Engineering College -Trichy, in Tamil Nadu, India in 1986 after obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Applied Science from the Coimbatore Institute of Technology.

Well known for his passion for clients, Chandra is the executive sponsor for a number of TCS’ large customer relationships and alliances.

Chandra lives in Mumbai, India with his wife, Lalitha and son, Pranav.

S. Mahalingam
(Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director )

Seturaman Mahalingam or “Maha”, as he is better known, started his professional career with Tata Consultancy Services in 1970. In his 37-year career with TCS, Maha has been involved in myriad aspects of the Company’s operations and growth, before being appointed as the Chief Financial Officer of the Company in February 2003 and as Executive Director in August 2007.

A chartered accountant by qualification, Maha began his career as an IT consultant and thereafter played a major role in marketing TCS services across the globe, developing processes and creating large software development centres for the Company.

As an early starter in the Indian IT industry, Maha has played a key role in helping TCS become a $ 5.7 billion global company with over 111,000 employees. He has been working on off-shoring assignments in the United Kingdom for TCS since 1975 and set up TCS' UK operations in 1977.

After successful stints managing TCS' operations in the UK and USA, Maha was instrumental in helping TCS develop the scale to handle large IT projects. He set up TCS' software delivery centre at Chennai in south India, including a dedicated IBM centre, which was the largest mainframe-based centre in India.

Prior to becoming the Chief Financial Officer in February 2003, Maha has managed many of the key functions in TCS including Marketing, Operations, Education and Training as well as Human Resources. He managed the company's operations in London and New York in the early days of TCS' global journey. He has been a champion of TCS' Process and Quality initiatives, which has resulted in TCS becoming the first IT Company in the world to be assessed at CMMI and PCMM Level 5 on an enterprise-wide basis.

Maha's experience, during the formative years of the IT industry in the 1970s and 1980s, has given him significant standing within the IT industry. He is a former chairman of the Southern Region of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India's apex industry body as well as a fellow of the Computer Society of India. He was also the President of the Institute of Management Consultants of India. He is on the board member of several TCS' subsidiaries of TCS.

Maha was conferred the 'CFO of the Year' award 2006 announced by International Market Assessment (IMA) India for his work in instituting world-class standards of transparency in financial reporting and demonstrating the qualities of an outstanding finance professional.

Maha was also the winner of CNBC TV18’s Best Performing CFO Award in the Technology Sector for 2007

Born in February 1948, Maha is married with two children and lives in Mumbai.

Phiroz A Vandrevala
(Executive Director and Head, Global Corporate Affairs)