C. Vijayakumar

C. Vijayakumar
C. Vijayakumar
Birthplace	Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Business executive
Title	CEO and Managing Director
Employer	HCLTech
Known for	Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, HCLTech

C. Vijayakumar (commonly referred to as CVK) is an Indian business executive who serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of HCLTech, a multinational information technology services and consulting company headquartered in Noida, India. Appointed CEO in October 2016, Vijayakumar has led HCLTech through a period of significant transformation, overseeing a strategic expansion of the company's service portfolio and guiding it into new growth areas including artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital engineering. He additionally assumed the role of Managing Director in July 2021, consolidating his leadership position at the firm. As one of Indian IT's longest-serving CEOs, Vijayakumar was re-appointed for a third term in July 2025, with his tenure extended from September 1, 2025, to March 31, 2030. His compensation in FY25 reached $10.85 million, making him the highest-paid CEO among India's top IT services companies.

Early Life

C. Vijayakumar was born in Tamil Nadu, India. He received his early education at the Lawrence School, Lovedale, a boarding school located in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. Details about his family background and early childhood have not been extensively documented in public sources.

Education

Vijayakumar completed his secondary education at the Lawrence School, Lovedale, one of India's established boarding schools situated in the Nilgiri Hills. He subsequently pursued higher education at the PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, where he earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree. PSG College of Technology is one of southern India's prominent engineering institutions, affiliated with Anna University.

Career

Early Career at HCL Technologies

Vijayakumar joined HCL Technologies early in his career and rose through various leadership positions within the organization over more than two decades before being named CEO. His career trajectory at HCL encompassed roles across multiple business verticals and service lines, giving him broad operational experience across the company's diverse portfolio of technology services.

Prior to his appointment as CEO, Vijayakumar served as the President of the company's largest business unit, overseeing a portfolio of IT services that constituted a significant portion of HCL Technologies' overall revenue. In this capacity, he was responsible for managing client relationships, driving business growth, and executing delivery across key markets.

In August 2016, HCL Technologies appointed Vijayakumar as Chief Operating Officer (COO), a role that positioned him as the operational head of the company and signaled his trajectory toward the top leadership position. His appointment as COO was viewed as a step in the company's leadership succession planning, as HCL Technologies prepared for its next phase of growth under new executive leadership.

Appointment as CEO

On October 24, 2016, HCL Technologies formally announced the appointment of C. Vijayakumar as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. The appointment was announced via a Business Wire release, and the transition marked a new chapter for the company, which was then seeking to accelerate growth and expand its portfolio beyond traditional IT services.

In the announcement, HCL Technologies positioned Vijayakumar's elevation as a reflection of his deep understanding of the company's business operations, client relationships, and strategic direction. His appointment came at a time when the Indian IT services industry was undergoing a significant transformation, with companies pivoting from legacy services toward digital, cloud, and automation-driven offerings.

Transformation and Growth of HCLTech

Under Vijayakumar's leadership, HCL Technologies underwent a substantial transformation in its business strategy and market positioning. One of the defining moves during his tenure was the acquisition of select IBM software products in December 2018, a transaction valued at $1.8 billion. This acquisition brought products such as Domino, BigFix, Unica, AppScan, and several other enterprise software brands under HCL's ownership, marking a strategic diversification from pure-play IT services into software products.

The company also rebranded from "HCL Technologies" to "HCLTech" during Vijayakumar's tenure, signaling a modernized identity and a broader ambition beyond traditional IT services. Under his stewardship, HCLTech expanded its capabilities across several domains including digital engineering, cloud and infrastructure services, cybersecurity, and AI-driven solutions.

Vijayakumar's strategic focus has included building HCLTech's capabilities in artificial intelligence and generative AI. As the AI revolution accelerated across the technology industry, he positioned HCLTech as one of the few major Indian IT services companies to publicly disclose its generative AI revenue, providing transparency to stakeholders about the company's progress in this emerging area.

In an interview with The Economic Times in 2025, Vijayakumar articulated HCLTech's strategy of focusing on new growth areas rather than relying on macroeconomic improvements. He identified AI-led software, hardware services, and digital engineering as key growth drivers for the company as the broader $283-billion IT services industry navigated changes in delivery mechanisms and revenue streams.

Managing Director Role and Expanded Responsibilities

In July 2021, Vijayakumar's role was expanded when he was additionally appointed as Managing Director of HCL Technologies, combining the CEO and MD titles. This consolidation of titles reflected the board's confidence in his leadership and provided him with enhanced authority to drive the company's strategic agenda.

The combined CEO and MD role gave Vijayakumar direct oversight of all aspects of HCLTech's operations, including its global delivery network, client engagement strategy, research and development initiatives, and corporate functions. Under this expanded mandate, he continued to steer the company through the evolving technology landscape, including the post-pandemic digital acceleration that saw increased demand for cloud migration, cybersecurity, and remote work solutions.

Re-appointment for Third Term

In July 2025, HCLTech's board of directors approved the re-appointment of Vijayakumar as CEO and Managing Director for a third term, extending his tenure from September 1, 2025, to March 31, 2030. The re-appointment was subject to shareholder approval.

The extension made Vijayakumar one of the longest-serving CEOs in the Indian IT industry, a sector where executive tenures have historically varied significantly among the major companies. Mint noted that his continuity at the helm was notable in an industry that had seen frequent leadership changes at several peer companies during the same period.

Alongside the re-appointment, the board approved a significant increase in Vijayakumar's remuneration for FY26, representing a 71 percent hike over his previous compensation package. This positioned his pay well above that of CEOs at competing Indian IT services firms including TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra.

AI Strategy and Industry Engagement

Vijayakumar has been an active participant in industry forums and discussions on the role of artificial intelligence in enterprise technology. In 2025, he appeared alongside Jay Chaudhry, CEO and Founder of Zscaler, and Mike Haley, Vice President of Generative AI at Autodesk, at the AI Leadership Mixer, where the executives discussed strategies for enterprise AI adoption.

He has also contributed to discussions at the World Economic Forum, where he has been listed as a contributor on the organization's agenda platform, addressing topics related to technology and business leadership.

Under Vijayakumar's direction, HCLTech has positioned generative AI as a central element of its go-to-market strategy. In earnings discussions and media interviews, he has emphasized the company's approach to quantifying AI revenue and investing in AI-led software products and services, distinguishing HCLTech's disclosure practices from those of several industry peers.

Compensation

Vijayakumar's compensation has been a subject of industry attention, particularly in comparison with the remuneration of CEOs at other major Indian IT services companies. For the fiscal year ending March 2025 (FY25), his total compensation reached $10.85 million, making him the highest-paid CEO among India's leading IT companies, surpassing the heads of TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra.

For FY26, HCLTech's board approved a 71 percent increase in his remuneration, further widening the compensation gap between Vijayakumar and his counterparts at peer organizations. The board's decision to increase his pay was linked to his re-appointment for a third term and reflected the company's performance and growth trajectory under his leadership.

Recognition

Vijayakumar has received recognition from industry publications and forums for his leadership of HCLTech. In 2021, he was named among the winners at Business Today's "India's Best CEOs" awards at the BT MindRush event.

His participation as a contributor to the World Economic Forum's agenda platform reflects his standing as a recognized voice in discussions about global technology trends, digital transformation, and enterprise innovation.

Procurement Magazine profiled Vijayakumar in December 2025, highlighting his role in transforming HCLTech from a traditional IT services provider into a more diversified technology company with capabilities spanning software products, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, and AI-driven solutions.

Legacy

C. Vijayakumar's tenure as CEO and Managing Director of HCLTech represents one of the most consequential leadership periods in the company's history. Since his appointment in 2016, HCLTech has evolved from a company primarily focused on IT services and infrastructure management into a diversified technology firm with a growing portfolio of software products, digital engineering capabilities, and AI-driven services.

His decision to pursue the acquisition of IBM's software products portfolio in 2018 marked a strategic departure for HCLTech and was viewed as one of the more ambitious moves by an Indian IT company to build its own products business. This acquisition diversified HCLTech's revenue streams and provided the company with proprietary software products that complemented its services portfolio.

As one of the longest-serving CEOs in the Indian IT industry, Vijayakumar's leadership has spanned a period of significant technological change — from the rise of cloud computing and digital transformation to the emergence of generative AI as a transformative force in enterprise technology. His approach to transparently reporting AI revenue and investing in new growth areas has been noted as a distinguishing factor in HCLTech's strategy relative to its peers.

With his third term set to run through March 2030, Vijayakumar is positioned to continue shaping HCLTech's direction as the global technology industry enters a period defined by AI integration, evolving client needs, and shifts in the structure of IT services delivery.