Tech Mahindra's CP Gurnani Looks To Transition From Captain To Coach Post Retirement

Tech Mahindra chief CP Gurnani wants to transition from being a long serving captain in the IT industry to a "coach" after he retires from the company in December this year.

The nomination and remuneration committee has extended the tenure of Gurnani till December 19, 2023 as it looks to work on the succession plan of Gurnani.

While he did not divulge any further details on the succession plan, sources have indicated that internal candidates -- Jagdish Mitra, Manish Vyas, Lakshmanan Chidambaram are among top contenders for the post.

Jagdish Mitra is currently serving as Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Growth, who has been with the group for last 30 years; Vyas is serving as President, Communications, Media and Entertainment Business, and CEO, Network Services and been with the company for last 23 years and Chidambaram, currently serving as President for Tech Mahindra Americas and been with company since December 2012.

Gurnani said that the succession plan will be finalised by the committee as per the corporate governance norms of the company.

"I've done the same business for a very long time. I became a CXO at the age of 38 and am now stepping down at the age of 65.  All I'm trying to say is that I've been a playing captain for a very long time. I will become a coach. I will no longer be a playing captain," Gurnani said.

One of the longest serving CEOs in the technology sector, Gurnani told PTI that he would like to see the other side of the world and pursue things that are close to his heart.

"I have been one of the longest serving CEOs of the technology sector. I think it is fair that I get to see what the other side of the world looks like and I'm not talking about travel. I'm talking about a few things that I've always wanted to do in life. It is also good for the corporation that we get a new leader because a bit of rotation is like getting more oxygen into the system," Gurnani said.

While talking about business, Gurnani said Tech Mahindra will continue to deepen its presence in Japan and Europe and look at opening delivery centres closer to the home of its employees.

"I have always been a very big admirer of Japan, I will continue to create much deeper business interest in Japan. Frankly, I think Europe is a big opportunity now. Because overall Europe has felt the impact of the war.

"The war has been closest to them. Every individual in Europe has paid a price by inflation and higher energy bills. I believe that some of our cost transformation initiatives would be very helpful to European clients. So, my focus will be Japan and Europe," he said.

Gurnani said that the technology sector has matured and they have continued to serve their consumers, businesses, enterprises and corporates around the world by not taking a position.

"The only area where there has been some conversations is there organizations which are using cyber attacks as a weapon," Gurnani said but declined to reveal further details.

When asked about a broad strategic action plan that the company is planning to put in place this year, Gurani said that Tech Mahindra will look at distributing delivery centres across the country and near to the homes of its employees.

"We continue to make technological investments in the future of technology. Right now it is AI, cloud, metaverse and we have already started investing in quantum computing. We want to be ahead of the curve. There are some of our products which I think will be able to commercialize them a lot better," Gurnani said.