Tata Sons Chairman lauds group’s performance in 2023, warns of geopolitical, election risks in 2024

Sharing his outlook for 2024, the chairman warned about volatility, geopolitics and the upcoming elections across the world

Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons in his annual address to the employees termed 2023 a tumultuous year due to rising geopolitical tensions and disruptive trends, which added to the challenge to adapt.

In his letter to the employees, the Tata Sons chairman wrote, “The world faced an array of destabilising trends, from escalating geopolitical tensions to the mass adoption of generative AI to the ever-accelerating push toward sustainability. Some of these trends have been welcome; others much less so. But all of them have made the rules and processes governing our world trickier to navigate.”

He also highlighted the group’s resilience and adaptability in the face of mounting challenges. “I am thrilled that in this difficult global context, our group performed admirably in 2023. Our transformation — following the principles of Simplification, Synergy, Scale, Sustainability, Supply Chain and AI — has progressed well across our companies.”

Also read: N Chandrasekaran urges employees to brace for increased disruption and volatility in 2024

Tata Tech IPO

Chandrasekaran also celebrated the success of Tata Technologies’ IPO, the first IPO after 22 years from the group. “We also celebrated Tata Technologies’ historic IPO, and the announcement of new gigafactories — exciting moves that I am confident will bring resilient growth for decades to come,” he wrote.

Chandrasekaran also praised the adaptability and dedication of his employees and attributed the same to the group’s gain in market capitalisation. “This year, it has been immensely satisfying to see our commitment to innovation and progress show up so clearly in our financial results. In 2023, the combined market capitalisation of the Tata Group companies increased by 32 percent, nearly double the rate of the Sensex, which rose by 17 percent. Such successes would be impossible without the adaptability, resilience and dedication of our people, so I would like to thank each of you for your hard work this year. I could not be more proud,” he said.

2024 outlook

Sharing his outlook for 2024, the chairman warned about volatility, geopolitics and the upcoming elections across the world. “We must be prepared for more disruption and volatility. The complexity of global governance will reach new heights as the world finds new rules to protect data privacy, curb inflation, reduce carbon emissions and perceptions of AI risk. Geopolitics is also a potential source of volatility. 2024 is a year of elections, with 40 nations heading to the polls,” said his note.

Also read: Tata Sons' N Chandrasekaran reveals 2 incidents from 2023 that left an impression on him

In his note, Chandrasekaran sounded optimistic about the future of India despite the near-term uncertainty in the global outlook and highlighted India’s GDP growth. “In 2023, we fared better than most. We showed admirable leadership at a historic G20 summit. Our economy is thriving, with GDP on track to double to $7 trillion over the next five years. I am certain that India is poised to benefit from the aforementioned shifts transforming the world,” he said.