F.C. Kohli on Technology Pivot

At Tata Electric, Kohli became a general superintendent in 1963 and deputy general manager in 1967, and introduced the use of digital computers for power system design and control — including the CDC 3600 mainframe at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research — making Tata Electric one of the first utility companies anywhere to deploy computers for grid management.

At Tata Hydro-Electric, Kohli oversaw systems operations for power distribution and, by 1968, made Tata Electric one of the first companies anywhere to use a computer to control the power grid — a utility-side innovation that the article positions as the immediate precursor to TCS, which he and J.R.D. Tata set up within two years.

The Hindu notes Kohli joined Tata Electric Co. in 1951 and helped set up its load despatching system, becoming a director of Tata Electric in 1970 — utility-side experience that directly preceded his pivot to building TCS as a software-services vehicle for the Tata Group and the country.

TCS said in a statement that Kohli joined the company in 1969 at JRD Tata's behest, first pivoting into management consultancy and then, over the next two decades, into software development — explicitly describing a deliberate strategy of staged evolution rather than a single founding bet on software exports.