TCS CEO K Krithivasan was asked to choose between Mumbai and Chennai. His response

K Krithivasan, CEO & MD, TCS

K Krithivasan, the new CEO and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) - India’s largest IT services firm, in an interview with Moneycontrol revealed that his hometown Chennai will always be in his heart even though he may be in Mumbai.

Krithivasan was asked by Moneycontrol to answer the question in Tamil – whether he prefers Chennai or Mumbai. Laughing it off, the 58-year-old proceeded to answer in English.

“I grew up in Chennai, I cannot take Chennai out of my heart. Like I was telling someone, I will be in Mumbai but Chennai is home,” he said.

Krithivasan was based in Chennai but for the last few months, he has been operating out of the TCS guest house in Mumbai. Last month, it was reported that he will start house hunting soon as his family will be relocating to the financial capital.

K Krithivasan studied at Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore Institute of Technology (CIT) in the early 1980s. Former CEO N Chandrasekaran, 59, is also an alumnus of his college. Chandrasekaran is now the chairman of the parent company, Tata Sons.

Krithivasan is also an IIT alumnus.

At 58, he is one of the senior most executives in the company to be appointed CEO. Prior to this, he was the global head of TCS’s Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) Business Group, which contributes around 35 percent of the company’s revenue.

He has been at TCS for 33 years.

In 2017, Krithivasan was one of the frontrunners to replace him Chandrasekaran, when he moved to Tata Sons. His predecessor Rajesh Gopinathan got the top job.

Read: Affable, execution-focused, empathetic: Meet K Krithivasan

Gopinathan, while leaving, welcomed Krithivasan as he handed over the baton to him. “I wish Krithi the very best as he takes over the TCS baton and charts the way forward to our $50 billion aspiration,” he wrote in an internal note.