C Vijayakumar, CVK or Vijay to his peers, became the highest-paid chief among Indian software firms. The HCL Technologies CEO and MD reportedly took home Rs.123.13 crores ($16.52 million) last year, with three-fourths of his income comprising long-term benefits. The Noida-based company revealed the figure in their annual report (for the FY 2021-22), released over the weekend. The New Jersey resident joined the company 25 years ago as part of a team responsible for designing India’s first fully automated trading network at the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Since then, he has risen through the ranks, becoming CEO in October 2016.

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Vijayakumar hails from Coimbatore, a city on the banks of the Noyyal River. Having completed his schooling at Lawrence School in Lovedale in 1986, he did his Bachelors in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Coimbatore’s PSG College of Technology. In June 1990 -after his four-year engineering course- he joined as an R&D Engineer at the Centre for Development of Telematics. After three years at the organization, he joined HCL.

In his 28-plus years at the organization, he has worked in various roles, including as President of HCL’s Infrastructure Services Business. He was also made Chief Operating Officer for a brief four-month period (June to October 2016). As CEO, he has driven efforts to leverage digitization, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud, cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence under a blueprint called ‘Mode 1-2-3’.

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HCL’s progress under his stewardship has not gone unnoticed. Awarded the ‘Best CEO of the Year, 2020’ in the IT/ITES sector by Business Today, as well as being named among the ‘Top 10 Disruptive CEOs’ by analyst group HfS, Vijayakumar has become an industry stalwart. A private person, Vijay keeps his personal life to himself. He remains unmarried and has no children.