When Vishal Sikka took over as Infosys CEO in August 2014, he was the first ever non-founder to assume the mantle at the IT firm. At that time, many wondered whether he would be able to fit into the Infosys culture. Three years later, as he steps out of Infosys in controversial circumstances, the question that comes to the fore is who will replace Sikka as CEO in such an insecure environment. The Infosys Board has declared that the company would have its new CEO by March, 2018. COO Pravin Rao has been appointed as interim MD & CEO, but sources close to the company say he may not get an extension. Apart from Rao, the three presidents within the company, Ravi Kumar, Mohit Joshi and Rajesh Krishnamurthy will also come into contention. Now, here is the key question. Will Infosys look to bring in an outisder as the new CEO? Sources believe it would be difficult to attract a suitable candidate from outside the company in the current environment. Infosys co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan said they would look for a candidate with a transformational mindset and incredible people connect.
He also admitted that there would be considerable challenges for an outsider. Adapting to the culture of Infosys to drive about the change is not any easy task, he felt. Ray Wang, principal analyst & founder, Constellation Research, said, “Vishal’s departure is a loss for both, Infosys and the industry, because he succeeded at giving Infosys a shot at the art of the possible. There is a massive effort required to succeed in the forthcoming disruptive wave wherein IT services vendors will have to make very hard choices. So the next Infosys CEO must have the backing of the full board to get there.”
The Infosys Board has said that its nominations and renumeration committee will look into suitable candidates but the overhang of the founders’ role will certainly add to the pressure. Sikka’s entry into Infosys as the first non-founder CEO was a bold move as he came from a completely different background. He spent his entire career in a software product company like SAP and was based in the US. This perhaps created certain amount of disconnect considering that an overwhelming percentage of employees were based in India.
Sikka’s rapid induction of executives from his previous company SAP created further uncertainty among the old timers of the company. In the recent past close of 10 of these former SAP executives had left Infosys. Though the Infosys co-chairman remarked that the new CEO would have the full backing of the board, there are also questions on its stability as the founders still have a substantial influence in the company. For now, Infosys faces an extended period of uncertainty and also the difficult task of maintaining a stable relationship with its client base.