A.S. Lakshminarayanan

AS Lakshminarayanan (Lakshmi) was appointed Head of TCS – Europe, in 2009. This new position adds the major growth markets of continental Europe to his UK responsibilities, where he has been Country Head since 1999.

Lakshmi has led strong expansion of TCS’ business in these markets, through a relentless focus on understanding and answering the mission-critical needs and concerns of customers. In particular, he has made sustained, strategic investments into enhancing TCS’ services, notably in consulting, business process outsourcing, infrastructure services and engineering. The UK today represents some 20% of TCS’ global revenues of $6billion (year ended March 2009); and has teams working on over 50 client sites, including British Airways, National Grid, BT and Somerfield. The company also has a major delivery centre and innovation laboratory in Peterborough, which is also the home of TCS’ subsidiary Diligenta.

Lakshmi is a sought-after authority on regional and global IT and business developments, appearing in global business publications such as Forbes magazine as well as numerous national news and trade media. He is also a well-known public speaker. He has addressed UK parliamentary select committees and all party parliamentary groups. Through Lakshmi’s leadership, TCS participates in the activities of leading UK institutions such as the Confederation of British Industry, Intellect and Business in the Community, as well as several academic partnerships. He is today a board member of the UK e-Skills Council, which explores ways to enhance the UK IT industry and professional skills.

Lakshmi first moved to Europe in 1992, when he helped establish TCS’ regional services in the UK South West region. He subsequently spearheaded client relationships such as AXA Sun Life, CMIG Bristol, British Airways and London Electricity. The AXA Sun Life migration project was awarded a British Computer Society citation in 1993. Lakshmi also initiated and led TCS’ global insurance practice. He headed this practice until 1999, when he assumed his UK leadership role.

Lakshmi, who joined TCS in 1983, has performed IT consulting and management roles with clients all over the world. He has lived and worked in USA, Australia and Hong Kong as well as in India and the UK. He holds has a Bachelor Honours Degree in Electronics from BITS Pilani in India. He is a long-standing member of IEEE Computer Society and the British Computer Society. He is also an alumni of London Business School.