Former TCS CFO V Ramakrishnan passes away

Former TCS chief financial officer Ramakrishnan Venkataraman. (Image: TCS)

Former Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) chief financial officer (CFO) Ramakrishnan Venkataraman, fondly known as Ramki, passed away in the early hours of July 21 at his home in Bengaluru.

Venkataraman, who retired in April 2021, was in the position since February 2017.

The company was deeply saddened by his demise, TCS said in a statement. "Ramki’s invaluable contributions across his many roles left an indelible mark on TCS.  He was above all a true gentleman who would always have a smile and a nice word for everyone. Today, TCSers have lost not just an esteemed leader, but a man who stood true to his values and lived his life with utmost humility. Our deepest condolences to his family," the company said.

In a career spanning 40 years, Venkataraman worked with Tata Motors, Tata Elxsi and in the consumer electronics industry. He spent close to eight years at TCS America and nearly 14 years at TCS as vice president of finance and then the CFO.

An alumnus of Chennai's Loyola College, Venkataraman was also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the Institute of Company Secretaries of India and the Institute of Cost Accountants of India.

"To me, he was a great human being. I’ve lost a colleague, a friend and a professional. We share with the family in this loss,” S Ramadorai, former TCS CEO and former Tata Elxsi chairman, who knew Ramki since his Tata Elxsi days, said. He was one of the brightest, humble and unspoken performers, he said.

“To me, it’s almost like a family member. He was one of our closest — in terms of how we mentored him, and saw him grow and perform. We met him last on Monday at my office in Bombay where I spent an hour with him where we exchanged notes. I met with him on every trip to Bangalore. We used to spend some time not just on the IT companies but on some of the innovation that is happening in the Bangalore area,” Ramadorai said.

A Tata veteran, Ramki started his career at Tata Motors. Prior to joining TCS, he was the head of finance and company secretary at Tata Elxsi. He took over as the finance head for TCS in America in 1999 and then joined the company in Bengaluru in 2007.

He was responsible for the financial controllership of TCS subsidiaries and branches globally as well as various merger and acquisitions integration initiatives.