 "How Shantanu Naidu went from Ratan Tata’s millennial manager to top role at Tata Motors")
Late industrialist Ratan Tata’s close confidant and manager, Shantanu Naidu, is climbing up the professional ladder.
He has been appointed General Manager of the Strategist Initiatives wing in Tata Motors.
The 32-year-old shared his excitement for the new role and wrote that his life “comes full circle now.”
Let’s take a closer look.
‘It comes full circle now’
In his post on LinkedIn, Shantanu Naidu wrote, “I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as General Manager, Head – Strategic Initiatives at Tata Motors!”
He shared his personal connection with the company, saying, “I remember when my father used to walk home from the Tata Motors plant, in his white shirt and navy pants, and I would wait for him in the window. It comes full circle now.”
He also posted a photo of himself posing with a Tata Nano, the car closely associated with Tata’s humble vision of affordable mobility in India.
Naidu has a long family history with the Tata Group.
His father was employed at the Tata Motors plant in Pune, while his grandfather and great-grandfather were employed at the Tata Power hydroelectric project in Bhira, Maharashtra.
Naidu received compensation from Tata Sons even though he was based at Tata’s office in Tata Trusts. His pay was moved to Tata Motors in January, indicating his impending position.
For those unversed, the Tata Group has also seen internal transfers in the past. Sandeep Tripathy of Tata Sons moved to Tata Capital, and Swaminathan TV of Tata Consumer Products moved to the digital operations for commercial vehicles of Tata Motors.
His bond with Ratan Tata
Naidu has not only been professionally associated with the industrialist. Their bond is quite deep and personal.
In his will, Tata even named his Executive Assistant Naidu.The business tycoon relinquished his stake in Naidu’s companionship company, Goodfellows, and waived a personal loan Naidu had taken for overseas education.
The unlikely friendship between Tata and Naidu, a young man from Pune who had begun working for Tata Elxsi company, was formed by their mutual affection and concern for dogs .
In an interview with Brut, he recalled that he came across a dead dog in the middle of the road in 2014. Disturbed by the sight for months, Naidu developed reflective collars to protect stray dogs from being hit by cars at night.
After the demand for his dog collar grew, Naidu struggled to meet the target due to a lack of funds that is when his dad urged him to write a letter to Tata. Initially hesitant, he then finally wrote one. Two months later, Naidu got a reply from Tata asking him to meet him in person.
Impressed by Naidu’s venture, Tata Sons chairman emeritus decided to support Naidu’s NGO, Motopaws, a project Naidu fondly describes as “Ratan Tata-backed.”
In 2016, Naidu went on to pursue his MBA from Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management in US, excelling in leadership roles and earning accolades, including the Hemmeter Entrepreneurship Award and the Johnson Leadership Case Competition.
During his time in the US, he kept in touch with the industrialist. As Tata’s assistant, he would take notes for his meetings as well as give feedback on the new startups he was investing in.
After his studies, Naidu was placed in the Office of RNT, the private office of the industrialist, after his stint as Tata Sons Chairperson.
Naidu continued to develop socially important platforms and services outside of his day job of running Tata’s affairs, and his generous boss frequently supported these ideas.
One of the most notable of these was Goodfellows, a subscription-based companionship service for elderly people that was launched in 2022.
He also, in fact, helped set up the octagenarian’s Instagram account. Over the last 10 years, Naidu became a close and trusted friend of Tata.
He came into the spotlight public after a video surfaced on social media showing him celebrating Tata’s birthday, garnering the admiration of his fans across India.
Beyond his managerial role, Naidu also penned a short memory of his life with Ratan Tata, called “I Came Upon a Lighthouse” under publishing house Harper Collins in 2021.
‘Goodbye, my dear lighthouse’
Ratan Tata passed away at the age of 86, on October 9, 2024, after a brief hospitalisation in Mumbai.
Naidu paid an emotional tribute to his mentor on LinkedIn.
He wrote, “The hole that this friendship has now left with me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to fill. Grief is the price to pay for love. Goodbye, my dear lighthouse.”
In the post, he also shared a picture of him with Tata.
Even though Ratan Tata’s passing signalled the end of an era, his influence lives on in Naidu and the others he taught. File Image
With inputs from agencies
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