REFERENCES & SUCCESS STORIES

Tata consulting services (TCS)

From IT service specialist with 600,000+ employees to Digital Transformation partner in 14 months

INSEAD Professor Phil Anderson designed a unique leadership programme for TCS to realise this transition: Ablaze & Arise a global strategic development and transformation programme that activates mindset, organisational behaviour, and business ownership in the top 1,500 leaders and key people at TCS. Spread across five continents, they had to become more than good at their jobs. They had to create movement. Shift culture. Implement the new direction.

As one of 8 Lecturers and Transition Consultants for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), I stood at the foundation of:

• The transformation TCS realised in 14 months, from an operational IT service specialist to Digital Transformation Consultants
• We developed 1,320 TCS leaders worldwide in these first 14 months as the frontrunners and leaders for change
• 8 new patents and proofs-of-concept filed
• $400+ million in value generated from additional new contracts
• From IT cost and efficiency positioning to broader commercial results
• From IT cost and efficiency positioning to broader commercial results
• From responding to tenders to initiating and creating demand
• From subject matter experts to those who orchestrate the IT landscape
• Winning new deals through vision and a clear roadmap
• From fast, operational IT solutions to strategic, long-term business impact
• Ecosystem thinking
• Curiosity, creativity, and innovative thinking

Because of the results achieved, this Change & Transition programme for TCS was awarded by EFMD as the most successful transformation programme in the academic world.

s one participant put it: "INSEAD's Ablaze & Arise gave my ambition and thinking wings."

Do you dare ask yourself: who do I need to become to get my team moving?

I guide global players through their transformation processes. You could be one of them.

If you change your standard, everything changes. I have that new standard for you.

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When Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), with more than 600,000+ employees worldwide, decided to make a fundamental strategic shift, to serve the top of the market not only as an IT service provider but to reposition itself as a Digital Transformation partner for Growth & Transformation, they knew: this demands a radical transformation from within. But they realised one thing: their greatest strength, their people, had to go through a complete mindshift. And also that 70% of strategic transition initiatives fail due to internal resistance and unsupported leadership.

De Uitdaging was dan ook enorm! The challenge was enormous. Realising a transformation across a global organisation of 600,000+ employees. Try standing in that. TCS leaders had to start operating at a different level, less focus on IT implementation, more direction-setting for digital transformation and growth for clients. This hit the existing culture within TCS, which was strong on content but lacked strategic ownership and customer-focused innovation with an outside-in view. Professionals had to learn to operate at C-level, exert influence without formal power, and create value beyond technology.

That challenge turned out to be not a matter of implementing processes or structure, but a mindset and culture shift. Many professionals felt uprooted: if I'm no longer the technical expert, who am I? Others held on to their operational certainty out of fear of becoming irrelevant. Letting go of what made TCS successful is hard. There was resistance, saying yes and doing no, and no movement in the organisation.

Margerieth is an exceptional consultant & lecturer

Margerieth is an exceptional lecturer who helped me in my ecosystem strategy exec education session.

She demonstrated a strong grasp of the core concepts and asked questions that prompted the students to think beyond the existing frameworks.

Her lecture was very engaging and thought provoking. It enriched the experiences of all participants.

Growth & Transformation
Wesley Koo, INSEAD Professor – Executive Education Program for Tata Consulting Service (TCS)

she continuously encouraged all her participants to bring an outside in perspective

I had the opportunity to have Margerieth as an executive trainer during the INSEAD ABLAZE Programme for Growth & Transformation.

I see her as a very professional and passionate coach having in-depth insights on transformation and change management.

Her point of view on all the concepts were very clear and well-articulated. During our course tenure, she continuously encouraged all her participants to bring an outside in perspective which not just enabled them to come up with creative ideas but also made sure those were channelised appropriately to drive the outcomes and key learnings in line with the concepts related to Transformation.

Very happy and privileged to recommend Margerieth as an executive coach for Growth & Transformation for her thoroughly professional attitude and in-depth experience.

Aswin Chandrasekaran – Tata Consultancy Services – Assistant General Manager

tech mahindra

Claiming commercial leadership in the C-suite

How I helped Tech Mahindra's sales leaders claim the boardroom with the Trusted Advisory Coaching Journey programme.

My role for Tech Mahindra in this programme wasn't optional.
As an INSEAD Lecturer and Master in Change, I bring a combination of commercial experience, deep insight into leadership, and proven success in programmes like Ablaze & Arise t TCS. I'm not a trainer on the sidelines, I'm an essential player in Tech Mahindra's transformation. Without my contribution, this would have stayed a programme. With my contribution, it became transformation.

I work exactly where leadership stalls: in the undercurrent of behaviour, influence, and identity. I make sure leaders don't just know what to do, but who they need to become to stand credible and powerful in the boardroom.

📈 The results

• Sales leaders gained access to boardrooms they were previously kept out of.
• They built deeper, strategic client relationships and led relevant conversations about business growth through digital transformation.
• They closed bigger, more complex deals and grew their share of wallet.
• In the final Dealmaker Chalenge they proved they had fundamentally changed their role: clients recognised them as partners, not just suppliers.

The programme visibly strengthened Tech Mahindra's commercial power, and secured their seat at the table with clients, plus access to new ones. This is only the start.

Tech Mahindra is a global player
With more than 150,000 employees in 90 countries, the company delivers IT and telecom services to Fortune 500 clients worldwide. They're at the top of their market. But today's success doesn't guarantee tomorrow's seat at the table.

Tech Mahindra has big ambitions. The market is shifting. Clients no longer want suppliers who implement, they want partners who think strategically about how to use digital technology to grow. Trusted advisors who help them grow and transform.

he burning platform for Tech Mahindra was crystal clear: if Tech Mahindra couldn't transform its sales leaders, their role would stay reduced to supplier, and with that, they would lose both relevance and market share.

The Challenge

Tech Mahindra's sales leaders are experienced and expert in IT. They know how to close a deal. But the trap was that as commercial leaders, they quickly got stuck in operations and the day-to-day rat race. It turned out they struggled to get a seat at the table in their clients' boardrooms. They had no natural access to C-level.

That limited their impact. It limited growth. And it limited the position Tech Mahindra wanted to claim in the market.

The question was: how do we embed this change and transitional new comercial direction to lift TechMahindra's commercial leaders and their teams to a level where they can strategically advise clients, and be seen not as suppliers, but as Digital Transformation Consultants.
De vraag was: hoe tillen we onze commerciële leiders en hun teams naar een niveau waarop ze klanten strategisch kunnen adviseren en niet gezien worden als leverancier maar als Digital Transformation Consultants.

The breakthrough: Trusted Advisory Sales Coaching Journey

Together with INSEAD, an intensive programme was developed: the Trusted Advisory Sales Coaching Journey..

A transformation programme that lifted commercial leaders to boardroom level, where they learned to:

• Leading Lead boardroom conversations
• Moving from transaction to consultative selling approach
• Redefine their new role: not as the super-seller, but as trusted advisor
• Moving from super-seller to an authentic, inspiring commercial leader for their teams

Her talent for Leading Change & Transition

Margerieth has a unique talent for executive coaching, particularly in the realm of leading commercial change and transition. She has provided invaluable guidance to us that goes beyond theory, offering actionable strategies that empowered commercial Leaders within TechMahindra to guide their teams effectively through periods of Commercial Transformation.

Her expertise and compassionate approach made her an invaluable asset to our change and transition initiative and she was an inevitable contribution to the success of our new strategy implementation

I had the privilege of being personally coached by her and I would highly recommend Margerieth for leading commercial change and transitions as she has helped us in an amazing way with high energy in her typical Dutch way -always being brutally honest and confront with compassion.

-Rohit Raja – Global Client Partner TechMahindra- 

Courage to show what is not so easily to be seen in organisations, above and beyond

Margerieth is an exceptional Lector and Executive Coach at INSEAD, whose dedication to serve TechMahindra’s commercial leaders in their efforts to change and transition from an IT-implementation company to Digital Consultants consistently and she goes above and beyond.

She brings not only deep expertise but also a genuine warmth that fosters trust, unlocks new insights, and encourages deeper thinking.

On a personal level, it was a real pleasure to have benefited from her executive coaching, which has helped me as a commercial leader for TechMahindra to unlock deeper thinking about my leadership and leadership role and it definitely contributed to a real transformation.

She always goes the extra mile, with the courage to show you what is not so easily to be seen within myself and/or my organisation.

I’m grateful for her support and inspiration and it will always guide me

-Simon White – Region Lead New Zealand TechMahindra

Heading 2

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We made a good team and I enjoyed every bit of time spent in that engagement and I look forward to collaborating with her more often.

I met Margerieth at INSEAD coaching engagement of senior-level professionals, she came across as a very seasoned professional and a thorough bread litterateur who could push the Coachees into a reflection mode by bringing the outside in perspective for them to go beyond the obvious.

Her energy was infectious and vulnerability was something to learn from. Initiatives and selfless approaches to contribute to the Alumni are other aspects to look up to.

Value Consciousness Leadership Coach
Ashiish Mehra – Thought Partner, Mentor, Board Advisor

she continuously encouraged all her participants to bring an outside in perspective

I had the opportunity to have Margerieth as an executive trainer during the INSEAD ABLAZE Programme for Growth & Transformation. I see her as a very professional and passionate coach having in-depth insights on transformation and change management. Her point of view on all the concepts were very clear and well-articulated. During our course tenure, she continuously encouraged all her participants to bring an outside in perspective which not just enabled them to come up with creative ideas but also made sure those were channelised appropriately to drive the outcomes and key learnings in line with the concepts related to Transformation.

Very happy and privileged to recommend Margerieth as an executive coach for Growth & Transformation for her thoroughly professional attitude and in-depth experience.

Aswin Chandrasekaran – Tata Consultancy Services – Assistant General Manager

Any team or individual fortunate enough to collaborate with Margerieth is sure to benefit from her wealth of knowledge and strategic acumen.

I had the privilege of working closely with Margerieth during our international immersion module at INSEAD, where she served as my mentor in a challenging strategy consulting exercise.

Margerieth’s guidance went beyond traditional mentorship; she fostered a dynamic learning environment and encouraged us to explore the problem from various perspectives. Her strategic insights were instrumental in shaping our approach, and she skillfully guided us through different lenses to ensure a comprehensive and innovative solution. Margerieth brought a wealth of real-world experience to the table. Her ability to navigate complex challenges and distill them into actionable strategies was truly impressive.

I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with Margerieth, and I wholeheartedly recommend her as a mentor, consultant, and executive coach. Her expertise, dedication, and genuine interest in the success of those she mentors make her an outstanding professional in the field.

aranveer Singh Bhangoo, HSBC |MBA-SPJMIR

I was lucky to have Margerieth as my executive coach on Insead’s Leading Organisations through Disruptive Times course.

Margerieth provided a brilliant sounding board as I worked my way through the course and applied them to the challenges of my organisations both past and present.
She had a thorough understanding of the course and processes taught but was also brilliant at seeing how they could be adapted to some of the real scenarios. I would highly recommend Margerieth as an Executive Coach and especially to anyone who is facing a change challenge in their business. Margerieth is a great listener and understands how to build a clear strategy and fair process to successfully pivot a business into a digital led era.

Duncan Chater, MD Bloomberg

An great executive coach

Margerieth as an great executive coach at the Insead exeuctive education program & she had a great approach, she inspires for innovative thinking, for change and digital transition.
Margerieth has perfect understanding of business challenges and drives the approach to reinforce the business development.

Mandana Levaux – Director Watches & Jewelery Groupe  Galery Lafayette

Think out of the box!

I had great coaching sessions with Margerieth as part of my one year INSEAD leadership program. She has in-depth expertise in transformation and digital transformation. I especially liked that she was challenging the status quo, helping to think out of the box!

Christian Woeckel
Head of RSV – Sanofi