Subramanian Ramadorai (born 6 October 1944)[2] is an Indian executive who was former CEO and MD ofTata Consultancy Services.[3] He was also the Adviser to thePrime Minister of India in the National Council on Skill Development, Government ofIndia.[4] He held the rank equivalent to an Indian Cabinet Minister and was the Chairman ofNational Skill Development Agency (NSDA) and theNational Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).[5][6] As the Chairman of NSDA/NSDC, he initiated the process of standardization of skilling effort, quality benchmarking, inclusive collaboration, and commonality of purpose and outcomes in India by leveraging technology.[7] Currently, he is the Chairperson of Mission ‘Karmayogi Bharat’, the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB) that aims to transform Indian bureaucracy and prepare civil servants for the future, through comprehensive reform of the capacity building apparatus at individual, institutional and process levels.[8][9][10]
He is the chairperson of the advisory board at Tata STRIVE,[11] which is theTata Group’s CSR skill development initiative aimed towards skilling of the youth for employment, entrepreneurship and community enterprise.[12][13]
He has been the CEO and MD ofTata Consultancy Services from 1996 to 2009 and Vice - Chairman of Tata Consultancy Services till 6 October 2014.[14] His role has been instrumental in the growth story of TCS, where the company grew from a US$400 million revenues company with 6000 employees to one of the world's largest software and services company with more than 200,000 employees working in 42 countries and revenues over US$20.0billion.[15][16]
S Ramadorai was born inNagpur,India, on 6 October 1944 and his family is fromTamil Nadu. His father was a civil servant who served as the Accountant General in Tamil Nadu State Government while his mother was a homemaker.[28] Ramadorai was the fourth of five children in the family and his ancestors hailed fromThanjavur.
Beginning his career with TCS as a Junior Engineer in 1972,[34][35] he rose through the ranks and eventually was given the responsibility to set up TCS's operations in theUnited States in 1979 in New York.[36] Since taking on the role of CEO, he contributed towards efforts that helped TCS build new relationships with large corporations and academic institutions, venture into innovative IT services and products, and intensify the company's research and development activities.[37][38][39] Ramadorai also initiated TCS's quality journey through initiatives that took sixteen[40] of its Development Centers to SEI'sCMMI Level 5.[41][42] TCS also attained the distinction of being the World's first company to have all Centres assessed as operating at Level 5 ofPCMM (People Capability Maturity Model, People-CMM).[43][44] He resigned as vice-chairman of TCS on 6 October 2014.[45]
In 2001, Ramadorai received the Lifetime Achievement Award from theIndore Management Association[62][63] and he was honoured with CNBC Asia Pacific's prestigious 'Asia Business Leader of the Year' Award in 2002.[64][65] The same year, he was named by Consulting Magazine (USA) as being one of the Top 25 Most Influential Consultants in the world.[66][67]
In 2004, he was awardedBusiness India's "Business Man of the Year" award.[68][69] He was also awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award from theIndian Institute of Science,Bangalore,[70] and a Fellowship of the Institute of Management Consultants of India, as well as the 'Management Man of the Year' award by theBombay Management Association.
The President, Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam presenting Padma Bhushan to Shri S Ramadorai on 26 January 2006, in recognition of his commitment and dedication to the IT industry.
On 28 April 2009, Ramadorai was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).[73][74]
On 31 January 2011, TCS Vice-chairman, Ramadorai was appointed by the Indian Government as the Advisor to Prime MinisterDr. Manmohan Singh for the National Skill Development Council.[75] He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award atET Awards 2015 for his contribution in shaping TCS.[76] In 2016, he was presented the prestigious ‘Outstanding Institutional Builder’ Award of theAll India Management Association (AIMA)’s Managing India Awards.[77]
On 16 February 2023,Deakin University, Australia, recognized his distinguished lifetime achievement as a business leader, and conferred upon him the Honorary Doctorate for his extensive contributions to theIT industry and his commitment to technological innovation for positive social outcomes.[78] In the past, he had been conferred with a Doctor of Sciences Degree (honoris causa) by Sastra University in 2006 and Doctorate (honoris causa) by Anna University.[79]
He is the President of the Society for Rehabilitation of Crippled Children (SRCC) – a one-of-its-kind super speciality children's hospital inMumbai.[84][85] He is the Chairperson of the Axis Bank Foundation where the focus is on livelihood initiatives and community-centric work.[86][87] He is also the Chairperson of theBritish Asian India Foundation that focuses on delivering programs to help tacklepoverty and inequality inSouth Asia.[88]
He is the Chairman of the Governing Body ofSahapedia,[89] a free-to-access digital library of India's heritage and culture, and offers digital content inmultimedia formats—articles and books,photo essays and video, interviews andoral histories, maps and timelines, authored by scholars and curated by experts.[90][91]
He and his wife Mala Ramadorai are also the founders of Anwesha Trust that supports several initiatives inSengalipuram and other areas of rural Tamil Nadu.[92]
