**Title: Shift in Leadership Locations Among India’s IT Giants**
Many companies are increasingly positioning senior management in key global markets to drive growth. A recent review indicates that eight of India’s ten largest IT service firms now have their CEOs based in major markets like the US and Europe. This strategic move is intended to enhance client relationships and foster company growth, even as the majority of their workforce remains in India.
The trend marks a significant shift from 2019, when only five of these companies had their chief executives operating from outside India. Currently, two-thirds of their employees are still based in India. For instance, LTIMindtree Ltd recently announced that CEO-designate Venu Lambu will be based in London, succeeding Debashis Chatterjee, who operates from Bengaluru. This change makes Lambu the eighth CEO to work outside India. In FY24, Europe contributed 14.9%, or $639 million, to LTIMindtree’s total revenue of $4.29 billion.
Historically, most IT company CEOs have worked from India, given that a large portion of their workforce is located there. However, many firms now believe that having senior management closer to key markets can lead to improved growth. Analyst R “Ray” Wang from Constellation Research noted, “North America is where the money is. If you want to be closer to the customer, you have to embed yourselves in their social lives, or you put a great executive leadership team to operate at that level.”
On average, revenue from the Americas accounts for 30-50% of IT services companies’ earnings, while Europe contributes about a third. Another analyst, Ashutosh Sharma from Forrester Research, pointed out that the location of a CEO is often a personal choice based on their previous work environment. He added, “The location of the chief executive is not paramount because they travel most of the time, and easy connectivity today enables them to talk to clients across the globe.”
Since March 2019, six of India’s ten largest listed software services companies have appointed new CEOs. Notably, three of these companies—Tech Mahindra Ltd, LTIMindtree, and Sonata Software Ltd—have placed their new CEOs in their largest markets, contrasting with their predecessors who were based in India. Mohit Joshi recently took over as CEO of Tech Mahindra, the fourth-largest firm in the sector.
