N. Chandrasekaran urges employees to brace for increased disruption and volatility in 2024

In his letter to employees, N Chandrasekaran pointed out three areas to prioritise in 2024

Tata Sons' Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, on December 28, cautioned employees of the Tata Group about the anticipated volatility and disruption in 2024, driven by the evolving global landscape in data privacy regulations.

In his year-end letter to employees, Chandrasekaran highlighted geopolitics as a potential source of volatility. "The complexity of global governance will reach new heights as the world establishes new rules to safeguard data privacy, address inflation, reduce carbon emissions, and manage perceptions of AI risk." He also noted that 2024 is marked by elections, with 40 nations heading to the polls.

Despite the cautionary tone, Chandrasekaran presented a silver lining, emphasizing a promising future for India. "In 2023, we performed exceptionally well. We demonstrated commendable leadership at a historic G20 summit. Our economy is thriving, with GDP set to double to USD 7 trillion over the next five years," he stated. Chandrasekaran expressed confidence that India is well-positioned to benefit from the transformative shifts reshaping the world.

Moving towards the boom in artificial intelligence (AI), especially in 2023, Chandrasekaran said, "Generative AI, for example, is a potential antidote to our access and inequality problems—provided we are careful and introduce the right rules."

The veteran industrialist also mentioned two biggest achievements of India this year which will be etched in memory of every citizen -- the successful Chandrayaan 3 lunar mission and the second being Indian men's cricket team’s journey in the ODI World Cup (no matter if it lost the finals to Australia).

Taking inspiration from the grit and glory of the Indian cricket team, Chandrasekaran noted, "The confidence and attitude was contagious, and a wonderful lesson in the value of resilience, preparation, mental strength and collaboration," adding that such qualities will be crucial as the Group moves forward with our transformation journey next year.

That said, the Tata chief pointed out three areas to prioritise in 2024 -- execution of plans, customer satisfaction and technology. For tech, Chandrasekaran asked each company to appoint an AI champion to proactively pursue the benefits of AI—economically, operationally and socially.

Furthermore, Chandrasekaran also noted that 2023 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 Tata Group companies increased by 32 percent, nearly double the rate of Sensex, which rose by 17 percent.