“You don’t chase a title, you chase a dream," N Chandrasekaran told LinkedIn India managing editor Adithe Charlie as he joined the social media platform as an influencer. The Tata Sons chairman, who has had a 33-year-long journey with the Tata Group, spoke on India, the economy, and a future inspired by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Chandrasekaran said that one needs to have an aspiration and purpose in life.
The Tata honcho joined Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 1987 after completing his masters in computer applications. He went in to become the chief executive and managing director at TCS, and in 2016 was appointed as additional director to the board of Tata Sons.
Under him, TCS became of one of the most valuable companies in India. He has had stints in Tata Motors and Tata Global Beverages and Tata Power. In January 2017, he was appointed chairman of Tata Sons.
“(For) most part of my career, I really feel that I have a very, very enjoyable profession because of my job at TCS for 30 years, where I learnt, lot of technology and also meet with different customers, different industries, travel around the world…For most part, it has been a career where I really looked up to going to work every day…The night outs were also part of all the fun," Chandrasekaran said.
The industry veteran said he was extremely bullish on the Indian market. “India will get organised…The shift from unorganised to organised is happening...It will accelerate." He added that middle income people in India will continue to rise, which will translate to more affordable spend.
For companies, he said, shareholder value gets created if stakeholders are looked after. “You look after your customers, your customers will look after your competition."