Cometh the hour cometh the man, they say. But in the case of Infosys, in its crucial hour of change, there are two men at the top. Chairman-designate KV Kamath and executive co-chairman Kris Gopalakrishnan are slated to form a potent combination that can take Infosys further forward. They are coming together at a time when competition in the IT sector is at its fiercest. In an interview with FE?s Darlington Jose Hector and Goutam Das, the two explain the different roles they envisage for themselves in the company. While Kamath will don the mantle of chief governance officer, Gopalakrishnan will look to work more closely with its key clients and also develop key internal leaders for the future.

The significant message that emanated from the succession announcement on Saturday at Infosys was that the company required the services of two chairmen at this point. Can you please elaborate on how this model will work?

KV Kamath: Infosys has had the same model with Murthy and Nandan. Sometimes it is appropriate to have a CEO-COO structure; sometimes it is appropriate to have a co-chair; sometimes it is appropriate have the CEO and chair positioned combined, though that is getting a little bit out of fashion. Ultimately, it has to be something that works in the company?s context without compromising on the governance aspect.

This is a company that has a strong core of professional leaders who have been around for a very long period of time. They just to be founders too. We see a transition happening now as these professionals reach a point in time when they say that they would step down from the company. So it is necessary the younger professionals are brought up. We need to continue to benefit from this long pipeline of experience that the professionals ? founders in this case ? have brought to the table. The board thought it appropriate that somebody like Kris who has done a remarkable job as CEO be there to continue the moulding process. That is best done in an executive co-chair post.

Both of you are great leaders in your respective sectors. Can you talk about the division of roles? Some experts tend to see the role of a chairman as that of the chief governance officer of the company.

Kamath: That would be right. That would be my role in Infosys and that is my role in ICICI Bank as well.

To make it a little more clear, my role would be to look after board governance. There is a whole range of other governance issues which get assumed by the CEO or the co-chair.

Kris Gopalakrishnan: I will be working a lot with some of our key clients. As we go forward, it is very important for us to create CXO level relationships in our client organisations. We are working with the business side of our clients more and more. We are doing larger and larger projects. Working with key clients is one of my larger responsibilities. I will also be involved in developing internal leaders for the future. I will also work with Shibu to make sure that the business objectives are met.

KV, how do you think the role of a chairman has evolved in India?

I think if you go back in time, when India had family run businesses, the chairman was basically everything. He carried the title, but he was also the CEO and much beyond. As new principles of governance came into being in the last 10-12 years, there came greater role clarity. You still had combined positions where the chairman had enormous powers but checks and balances started to come in. With the evolution of the separation in duties, the checks and balances have become more defined. Now, the board delegates execution and operation responsibility to an executive management. The board then plays the role of a governance watchdog, making sure strategic plans are aligned and executed properly. This becomes the governance process, broadly.

KV, you have been on the board of Infosys since 2009. Can you spell out some of your contributions to Infosys? How has your expertise of the BFSI sector been leveraged by the firm?

Kamath: Once you come on to the board of directors of a company, you don?t necessarily bring what you did elsewhere. You bring in a much wider focus in terms of what value you can add to the company. I must say categorically that my contribution to the board has been more in terms of understanding the strategic thought process of the company, trying to contribute what you have gained to that process in the company, sharing the best practices. This is how the knowledge base grows across businesses. If at all there is any situation where somebody wants to talk to me about BFSI, I could suggest, for instance, how to make the Finacle product better. I am always around for that.

Kris, how do you view Kamath as a personality?

Kris: He is a person who is very strategic, very clear in his thinking and observations. He has actively contributed to board discussions. All the members of the board and several of our key employees respect KV. He brings broad industry experience, specifically, in the financial services industry. The position KV has within the industry in India and globally, is also very important.

Both of you are taking on roles at a time when lots is happening in the industry. TCS has moved further ahead in the last few years. Do you think it is a tough phase for the Indian IT industry as a whole? Do you feel there is a greater responsibility on your shoulders?

Kamath: Strategy is not something at a point in time. What the board should look at is whether the strategy articulated is sustainable, executable and value creating. We see that Infosys has evolved in a very complex environment in India, where products have disrupted and changed every few years, and also where new verticals have come up at a dramatic pace. Infosys has articulated and charted its own path for all these years. When the board looks at the current context, the company has mapped its strategy very clearly. There are three significant things that are happening in the market place at this point in time ? new verticals, new geographies and new products are providing opportunities. The opportunities mapped are right, the strategies are right too. Don?t forget, Infosys exceeded expectations last year.

Kris: Our goal is also to grow faster than the industry. In many verticals we are seen as a global leader by our customers. We are creating new engines of growth. So we are investing in healthcare, public services. We are investing in new geographies. We are also starting new service lines. Over the next few years, these will start contributing significantly to the percentage of our revenues.

There is a certain shyness on the part of Infosys to go for acquisitions. Going forward, would that be one of the priorities?

Kris: It is one of the priorities. I don?t want to put that down as a number one priority because then growth would be dependent of acquisitions. Our guidance is based on organic growth. But if we find the right company and it seems to be a strategic fit, then yes. We must be able to retain key leaders of the team, at the right price ? then we will not be shy. There is no issue from a mindset perspective. We have done well against competition who have acquired companies.

Can you throw more light on the renaming of the company. Infosys Technologies has now become Infosys Limited.

Kris: We have evolved a lot over the years. If you look at our services today, they are not just technology services ? there are business solutions, consulting, BPO. The brand ?Infosys? is very strong and the focus should really be on that. So we said that as we launch Infosys 3.0. let?s also just focus on ?Infosys?.