DRIVING TRANSITION AT LTIMINDTREE

Debashis Chatterjee has leveraged the strengths of both L&T Infotech and Mindtree, and led the merged entity to cash in on the technology boom.

- RUKMINI RAO

IT WAS THE 2013 IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Pune Warriors Indians. Unbeaten at 175 with 13 fours and 17 sixes, Chris Gayle’s assault on RCB remains the singlemost feat of power-hitting ever seen in the history of T20 cricket.

Having witnessed Gayle’s innings at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, Debashis Chatterjee recalls it as one of the most memorable sporting moments till date. “I realised later that probably that kind of a match will never happen easily again,” he says.

An ardent cricket fan and having played the sport in his younger days, watching the game takes precedence for Chatterjee over every other thing during his free time. But past four years have hardly offered him a breather, especially since he was busy proving his mettle as the head of one of India’s top IT services companies.

In May 2022, India’s infrastructure behemoth L&T group announced the merger of L&T Infotech and Mindtree, two companies delivering IT-related services. Though the merger was anticipated by the Street right after the group acquired Mindtree in 2019, “If the pandemic had not happened, it would have happened earlier,” says Chatterjee, MD & CEO, LTIMindtree.