Role of the CEO in India IT Sector
The CEO plays an important role in this growth. The CEO is the highest-ranked executive and is responsible for guiding the overall direction of the firm. The CEO is responsible for making major business decisions, setting long-term strategies, and ensuring that company goals are achieved. The role of a CEO is mostly defined by the board of directors of the company and sometimes varies depending on the organisation's structure.
Internally, the CEO motivates employees and drives change when needed. Externally, the CEO represents the company while speaking to investors, the media, customers, and the public.
Indirectly, the performance of the IT sector has also led to a sharp rise in CEOs' salaries. As companies expand, generate higher profits, and compete globally, the responsibilities and expectations from CEOs will also increase, along with their salaries.
Here are the Top 5 Highest-Paid CEOs in the Indian IT sector.
Based on the most recent available filings, the highest-paid CEOs in India, along with their salaries, as of March 31, 2025, are:
Name
| Company
| Remuneration (in ₹ crore)
| Remuneration as % of Revenue
| Remuneration as % of Net Profit
|
Sandeep Kalra
| Persistent Systems Limited
| 1,480.90
| 1.23
| 10.58
|
Salil Parekh
| Infosys Limited
| 806.24
| 0.05
| 0.3
|
Nitin Rakesh
| MphasiS Limited
| 526.80
| 0.36
| 3.09
|
Angan Guha
| Birlasoft Limited
| 443.45
| 0.81
| 8.58
|
Sudhir Singh
| Coforge Limited
| 361.20
| 0.3
| 4.45
|
Sandeep Kalra
Sandeep has more than 30 years of experience in the IT services industry with a track record of revitalising businesses to boost growth and profitability. Highly regarded for his passion and growth-oriented mindset, Sandeep has expanded on Persistent’s impressive digital engineering pedigree to become an industry leader. Under his tenure as CEO, Persistent has surpassed $ 1 billion in annual revenue and evolved from a specialised technology provider into a dynamic full-stack digital transformation partner and a strong global brand.
Sandeep Kalra was jointly recognised with Dr Anand Deshpande by Fortune India as India’s Best CEOs in the IT Services (mid-cap) category for 2025. The award was presented by Mr Piyush Goyal, Honourable Minister of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. He was also recognised as a winner at ET Edge India’s Impactful CEO Awards 2025 in the category of Impactful Large Enterprise CEO.
Salil Parekh
Salil Parekh, as chief executive officer and managing director, sets and evolves the strategic direction for the company and its portfolio of offerings while nurturing a strong leadership team to drive its execution. Salil has helped transform Infosys into a leading digital, cloud, and AI company. Salil has over three decades of global experience in the IT services industry with a strong track record of driving digital transformation for enterprises, executing business turnarounds and managing successful acquisitions.
Nitin Rakesh
Nitin Rakesh joined the board of Mphasis as its CEO and executive director in January 2017. He was appointed managing director on September 29, 2021.
He is a distinguished leader in the technology and financial services industries. His career spans almost 30 years, leading large transnational operations and delivering transformative digital solutions to Fortune 500 companies. A computer science engineer at heart, Nitin’s lifelong passion for innovation and technology is evident throughout his career. Coupled with his deep domain expertise in banking, financial services and insurance verticals, strong customer orientation and an entrepreneurial mindset, he has been able to bring cutting-edge offerings consistently to accelerate value creation for customers, shareholders and employees.
Angan Guha
Angan Guha is the MD & CEO of Birlasoft. He provides strategic leadership to Birlasoft, driving significant scale and transformation. Before joining Birlasoft, Angan was the CEO for the Americas 2 Strategic Market Unit at Wipro and also served on its Executive Board and Group Executive Council. An electronics engineer from the University of Pune, Angan has also completed an executive programme in management from the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago.
Sudhir Singh
Sudhir is the chief executive officer of Coforge and serves on the company’s board of directors. He joined Coforge in May 2017. Under his watch, the firm has emerged as the eighth-largest Indian IT services company, grown revenues by almost four times (reference: FY25 results), and seen its market capitalisation has grown 16 times. A firm believer in an "execution first” philosophy, Sudhir champions a “getting it done” paradigm. He introduced the transformative “Transform at the Intersect” strategy in 2017, focusing on the convergence of functional and technological advancements. This vision has been instrumental in Coforge logging industry-leading growth and profitability.