Infosys to leave turmoil behind as Salil Parekh takes over as CEO today

Salil S Parekh will take over as the chief executive of Infosys on Tuesday

 

Salil S Parekh will take over as the chief executive of Infosys on Tuesday as the information technology (IT) bellwether looks to shed its past year of turmoil and forge ahead with a focus on execution and grow business by engaging clients via digital contracts.

For Parekh, a former Capgemini executive who rose through the ranks to be on its global board after successfully building its offshore base in India, the top job at Infosys will be his first that will put him under public scrutiny. So far, Infosys, listed on the Indian and global stock exchanges, has built its reputation on transparency and good corporate governance.

A lapse in disclosure by former CEO Vishal Sikka, who took charge in August 2014, about offering severance pay 10 times the standard contract to former chief financial officer Rajiv Bansal had escalated into a public spat between the board and the founders led by N R Narayana Murthy. This had resulted in the resignation of Sikka and R Seshasayee, then board chairman, last August, paving the way for co-founder Nandan Nilekani to return at the helm.

Nilekani realises that he has to stay longer at Infosys to ensure a smooth transition for Parekh, who will operate out of its headquarters in Bengaluru. Parekh will also need to fit in a culture of frugality that Murthy and Nilekani built over the past three decades, engage with in-house talent and ensure higher returns to stakeholders.

An operational man, Parekh had led the growth trajectory for Capgemini India as an offshore destination to deliver client projects and help the European firm remain competitive. During his tenure, Capgemini team grew from 800 people to over 85,000 people in India, which included leading the acquisition of iGATE Corp....

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Time for truce? N R Narayana Murthy calls off battle with Infosys board

The truce comes after Infosys clarified that it has not engaged in any illegal transactions

 

Infosys vs Founders N R Narayana Murthy has called off the battle with the software major's board, while reasserting that the company should ensure corporate governance norms are not diluted.

"Let me stop. I have made a point, paying such large sums of money is confusing. Now they have to sort it out," Murthy was quoted as saying by Bloomberg on its India website.

The truce comes after Infosys clarified that it has not engaged in any illegal transactions or paid "hush money" in the guise of severance pay made to former chief financial officer Rajiv Bansal. The company also made changes to its severance pay rules based on the local laws for such pay in each country.

"As for the quantum (of compensation), while it is not ordinary, when we look back in hindsight, lessons could have been learnt and action has been taken,” said Infosys' independent director Rupa Kudva – who is also the director of Omidyar Networks, a firm that looks at social impact investments – in a phone interview to Business Standard. "We have done benchmarking for severance pay according to each country and reworked senior management contracts to reflect it," Kudva added. 

She also said that there were no irregularities or hush money paid in the Bansal episode at Infosys. She added that while the company has strong internal audit controls, external audits have also found no wrongdoing.

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Automation to impact Indian jobs the most: Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka

Sikka invoked Moore's law and said automation was the future of Indian IT

 

COMPANY RESULTS | India would see the biggest impact on jobs due to automation, Infosys Chief Executive Officer Vishal Sikka said, quoting a research report, while addressing shareholders on Monday.

While most observers would have followed Sikka's address with regard to the recent tussle between the company's board and its founders, especially N R Narayan Murthy's allegations of a drop in corporate governance standards in India's second-largest software company, Sikka steered clear of the issue and merely dismissed media reports as drama and distraction. 

However, he did have a lot to say on the impact of automation and innovation on the country's IT sector and Infosys. "We have to eliminate our own work to automation, improve productivity, deploy the improved productivity to innovation," Sikka said, adding, "Technology continues to change and we have to continue to adapt."

"Instead of 10 people, what if we have three people to work on it. If we don’t have the software, then some others will take the advantage ... Having software together with education is something that is critical for our business. This, in essence, is the nature of our journey ... If you look at the 3.5 million people in our industry, the only thing that I see in the future is automation."

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Infosys founders raise a stink on governance, question Vishal Sikka's pay

Board told about Sikka's pay hike, generous severance packages, disclosures

LATEST NEWS | Founders of Infosys have flagged concerns over transparency and corporate governance at second-largest software exporter in the country. They have questioned the compensation package of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vishal Sikka and the severance package to its former chief compliance officer David Kennedy.

The founders, led by N R Narayana Murthy, have asked how the company would achieve the $20-billion target by 2020, as set by Sikka, in an uncertain global environment, said sources. Last month, Murthy, Nandan Nilekani and Kris Gopalakrishnan raised their concerns with the board.

The current projections are contrary to how Murthy built the company, with his mantra of “under promise over delivery”. Murthy and the five founders had stepped down as promoter-shareholders to ensure that their influence over the company reduced after they moved away from executive roles.

Since taking over as CEO in August 2014, Sikka has pushed the company to adopt design thinking, brought in automation and invested in artificial intelligence platforms, anticipating a shift in customer spending from traditional services to cloud. The shift in culture towards a less-people more-software-driven business approach also has seen several executives quit.

It includes former chief financial officer Rajiv Bansal and Kennedy, who resigned on December 31.

“There is a question mark on disclosures. Infosys was a gold standard in corporate governance. It doesn’t have that premium now,” said a person familiar with the developments.

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Vishal Sikka pays 4 heads million-dollar salaries

Infosys Chief Executive Vishal sikka is paying his top managers more, as an incentive to reach the company’s revenue target of $20 billion by 2020.

Four Infosys presidents — Mohit Joshi, Rajesh K Murthy, Ravi Kumar S, Sandeep Dadlani — and the company’s general counsel, David Kennedy, will now be paid million-dollar salaries.

Their salaries included a higher variable component,Infosys said in regulatory filings. Joshi, Murthy, Ravi Kumar and Dadlani will also receive restricted stock units and employee stock options.

 

Sikka is confident that the company’s top three leaders in sales will be instrumental in achieving their revenue targets. “We are now approaching $10 billion in annual revenue. This quarter we will cross it. So it means three sales presidents are collectively handling more than 

$3 billion (worth) of responsibilities. In addition, they have serious global responsibilities,” Sikka said after a recent press conference.

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