HCLTech Chief Executive Officer C Vijayakumar’s remuneration for the fiscal year 2024 nearly tripled on the yeat to approximately Rs 84.16 crore, making him the highest-paid CEO among Indian IT services companies in the year.
Infosys CEO Salil Parekh follows with a remuneration of around Rs 66.25 crore, and Wipro’s CEO Srinivas Pallia is third with a package of around Rs 50 crore.
According to HCLTech’s annual report, Vijayakumar’s earnings included a base salary of about $1.96 million (Rs 16.4 crore), a performance-linked bonus of $1.14 million (Rs 9.5 crore), approximately $2.36 million (Rs 19.7 crore) from long-term incentive (LTI) cash components, and $4.56 million (Rs 38.1 crore) perquisite value of the restricted stock units exercised.
HCLTech remains cautious about discretionary spending. During the company’s June quarter, it noted seeing some positive signs in certain areas but stated it was too early to form a definite outlook.
Further, in his letter to shareholders, Vijayakumar said that the demand environment for IT services will likely remain unchanged, with discretionary spends by clients staying soft. “But equally, there are opportunities for growth led by emerging technologies such as GenAI and surrounding areas such as cloud, data, and cybersecurity. With our comprehensive portfolio across digital, engineering, cloud, AI, and software, we are well placed to leverage the market opportunities,” he added.
Regarding generative AI, HCLTech has already delivered over 200 proofs of concept (PoCs) and plans to upskill over 50,000 employees in FY25 in GenAI and related capabilities.
“When it comes to GenAI, we see the market moving toward real-world B2C and B2B use cases being deployed at scale. HCLTech’s full-stack technology play and core engineering DNA positions us uniquely to help clients unlock the full potential of GenAI. Our approach to GenAI is grounded in the ‘art of possible’ to enable clients to deploy practical technology solutions,” Vijayakumar said.
