A graduate in Economics from Loyola College, Chennai, with over 37 years of work experience, both India and overseas, across multiple functions. He is the former CEO of IDFC Foundation and led the HR, Marketing and Communications functions of IDFC Bank. He was the erstwhile Group Chief Human Resources Officer and member of the Group Executive Council at Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, a USD 150 billion conglomerate with over 700,000 employees. Prior to that he was Global Leader of the People Advisory consulting worldwide, at Ernst & Young (EY). He has rendered management consulting services to MNCs, Indian conglomerates and to leading navratna PSU’s such as IOC, NTPC, HAL and HPCL. 

Rajan has served as a director on the boards of Tata Services, Indian Hotels (TAJ), Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System and Infrastructure Development Corporation, Karnataka. He is currently a member of the board of directors of Dalmia Bharat Ltd. Rajan provides professional advisory services, as the group mentor, to conglomerates. Rajan is a serving member of the XLRI Board of Governors and member of the Academics Committee of the Board. At the Tata Group, Rajan was responsible for board effectiveness interventions, helped develop the Governance Manual and in addition supported the Nomination and Remuneration Committees of the various boards in appointing new directors across group companies.

As Chairman of Group Affirmative Action of the Tata Group, Dr Rajan received a national award from Shri Narendra Modi, the honourable Prime Minister of India, for the Group’s contributions to the cause of the under-served and the under privileged. Dr Rajan was invited by the United Nations’ Economics and Social Council, to be part of policy makers panel to deliberate on achieving sustainable development through employment creation of 600 million jobs to meet future global needs. He has been a member of the governing council of CDC, an autonomous institution of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science & Technology, set up to help further the cause of research and consulting.

Rajan was conferred the “Distinguished Alumnus Award” by XLRI, Jamshedpur, a pre-eminent business school and has also received accolades such as Outstanding HR Leadership by Hindustan Times HR Leadership Awards, and “HR Professional of the Year” by National HRD Network, the country’s largest association of HR professionals. He is former National President of the NHRD Network and has also served on the national committees of CII. Dr Rajan is currently authoring a book on Happiness at Work, an area he has been researching for over two decades. He has been part of a think tank of IIT Delhi, Faculty of Management Studies, to rearticulate its vision in spearheading management education. Dr Rajan has researched global education institutions to help define next level practices in infrastructure and pedagogy for XLRI, Jamshedpur.

Rajan has been visiting faculty at IIM Ahmedabad and XLRI, Jamshedpur, in the areas of human capital and business management, and has recently been invited by National University of Singapore to teach in their Executive MBA program. He is the author of ‘Quote Me If You Can’, a compilation of his thoughts on business. He speaks many languages and writes poetry in three of them. He is an avid writer, speaker, blogger and photographer with an active presence on social media. Dr Rajan has been recognised by SHRM as being amongst the top ten social media influencers in HR. He is an angel investor and mentor of start-ups in HR and Technology.

Rajan, currently based in Bangalore is married to Vidya, a home maker and they have a daughter, who after completing her post-graduation from Harvard Business School is now working at New York.