TCS: The Indian company that built a global empire | Intermission E05 | The Ken

On 12 August 2026, N Chandrasekaran, the TCS intern who became the first non-Parsi chairman of Tata Sons, said he was done. He wouldn't seek another term. Five weeks later, the board brought him back. On 17 September, it voted to reappoint him for five more years, starting in February 2027. Noel Tata's Tata Trusts, the majority shareholder, calls the vote illegal. Tata Sons says it followed the rules. Shareholders still have to approve it at an AGM due by 31 December, and this could end up in court. That chair matters because of the company that produced him. From 2000 to 2026, TCS supplied close to 80% of Tata Sons' dividend and buyback income, roughly Rs 2.7 lakh crore. That money has paid for almost every big Tata bet you can name, from Air India to semiconductors. TCS was never meant to be this. It began in 1962 as an in-house unit to centralise the group's data processing, and Tata companies refused to hand over the work. To survive, it had to navigate the License Raj, when computers were taxed like toasters, and a 1978 attempt by its own parent to fold it into a joint venture with Burroughs. Along the way, it stumbled into the model that built India's IT industry: build in India, deliver to the world. Its tools helped build institutions like the National Stock Exchange. It worked through hundreds of millions of lines of Y2K code. And it turned small-town graduates into a global professional class. Now AI, a $100,000 H-1B fee, and the rise of GCCs are threatening the pyramid TCS was built on. This is the story of two small communities, the Tamil Brahmins and the Parsis, and the company that built India’s IT export industry and bankrolled the Tatas. Now it has to save itself. Tune in! --------- You can also watch/listen to the entire episode on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/36zC... Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast... ---------- We also have an interactive companion page to explore the history of TCS with reading lists, infographics and source notes: https://the-ken.com/intermission/the-... ---------- Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction 05:22 – Chapter 1: Two communities find each other 24:12 – Chapter 2: The Tata Group 35:35 – Chapter 3: Modern temples and their gods 45:42 – Chapter 4: The startup 51:52 – Chapter 5: Born of adversity 1:05:19 – Chapter 6: A Tam-Brahm in New York 1:11:40 – Chapter 7: Powered by “developing nation attitude” 1:18:12 – Chapter 8: The end of License Raj 1:25:50 – Chapter 9: A knowledge supply chain and factory 1:33:15 – Chapter 10: From Y2K to dot-com bust: TCS’ golden decade 1:43:13 – Chapter 11: A people and aspirations machine 1:57:46 – Chapter 12: Younger and faster rivals show up 2:03:30 – Chapter 13: Going public 2:11:53 – Chapter 14: A promotion and the fault lines 2:20:28 – Chapter 15: The H1B, GCC, AI triple-whammy 2:27:57 – Chapter 16: Ashes to ashes: TCS comes full circle ---------- Credits: Hosts: Rohin Dharmakumar, Seetharaman G Director: Vijay Subramaniam Video Producer: Vishnu S Sound Design and Technical Producer: Rajiv CN Lead Researcher: Raghav Batra Art Direction: Kavipriya OG Data Visualisation: Anuj Debnath Production Agency: Nesara Films Creative Direction: Sunayana Kashyap DoP: Subash KP Animation:⁠⁠ Karthik N Video Editing Team: Sunil S Bharadwaj, Prajwal Colourist: Akhil Raj Graphic Design and Styleframes: Anusha Sarah On-Set Production: Veeresh and team Production Coordination: Chaitanya and Kevin Raj Audio: ⁠⁠Murthy and team Spot Edit: Girish Set Design: Saanvi Joshi, Thejaswini Promotions: Pranav Pate, Adhavan RK Writer (Microsite): Brady Ng Editor: Sumit Chakraborty Product Design (Microsite): Praveen Gopal Krishnan, Ritika Sanikere, Sushmita Vavilala, Karan Kumar 'Intermission' Title Track by Sameer Rahat ---------- About Intermission: Intermission dives into the histories of iconic Indian companies. It was produced with vital support and assistance from Zerodha, our sponsor for season 1. Disclosure: Zerodha’s perennial fund, Rainmatter Capital, is an investor in The Ken. You can watch the previous episodes here: Asian Paints (Part 1):    • Intermission E01 - Asian Paints [PART 1]   Asian Paints (Part 2):    • Intermission E01 - Asian Paints [PART 2]   Bajaj Finance:    • Intermission E02 - Bajaj Finance   Bharti Airtel:    • Bharti Airtel's impossible survival story ...   ITC:    • ITC: The remaking of a giant | Intermissio...   About The Ken: The Ken is India’s first subscriber-only business journalism platform reporting on business, technology, and startups in India. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://the-ken.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ and explore our stories, newsletters, podcasts and more. Follow The Ken on socials: Instagram:   / theken_web   LinkedIn:   / the-ken   Twitter: http://x.com/thekenweb/