V Balakrishnan?s ride to the corner office at Infosys received a good bit of impetus on Friday, with the IT major announcing that the chief financial officer will step down to shoulder responsibilities in the crucial product platforms, BPO and India business space.
Widely tipped to become Infosys? next CEO, Balakrishnan needed a chance to lead large businesses and prove himself for him to have a realistic crack at the top slot, as and when SD Shibulal steps down. Highly placed sources in Infosys told FE that Balakrishnan himself was keen to get into a role of this nature, with other contenders BG Srinivas and Ashok Vemuri (both fellow board members) well entrenched in this play.
For Balakrishnan, who is considered a pet of founder chairman NR Narayana Murthy, this is a great opportunity. His new areas tie beautifully into the company?s 3.0 strategy which is something CEO SD Shibulal is personally driving, to get Infosys on to the next level of growth.
This is what his mentor Murthy had to say about Balakrishnan: ?Balakrishnan is an extraordinary individual. He represents the best traditions of Infosys… He has decided to voluntarily give up the CFO position in favour of a younger candidate… just like Mohan (Pai) did in 2006. I have no doubt at all that the nominations committee will look at him (Bala) at the time when they have to choose the next CEO,? Murthy said in a statement released to FE.
Infosys tried to underplay the development. Shibulal was very categorical, ?Bala has not resigned. He has played an important role in the company. He will remain as a board member.?
Bala himself sought to keep the organisational framework in mind, when queried about his new role. ?This company is all about giving space to youngsters and he (Rajiv Bansal) will be a good CFO. I will focus on other multiple engines of growth for the company,? he said.
The firm tried to portray this as an attempt at giving youngsters a chance. ?Infosys always has been a company that encouraged new sets of leaders. We have always tried to build tier-I, II and III levels of leaders,? Shibulal said.
Kris Gopalakrishnan, executive co-chairman, Infosys, said, ?Rajiv Bansal has been a very bright star in the finance department. He has been with Infosys for 13 years and has been heading the finance function under Bala for the past four years.?
Vemuri, who was in charge of BFSI for nearly two decades, is seen as Bala?s biggest rival for the CEO post. He has considerable experience in driving huge businesses and his role in north America was much appreciated by the company board. BG Srinivas, a manufacturing vertical expert, is another player tipped for higher things at Infosys. But in April, in a novel move, Infosys switched their roles. Thus Vemuri is now driving manufacturing and Srinivas is looking at BFSI.
Balakrishnan, on the other hand, has been with the IT major for 21 years and has been the chief financial officer of the company for the last six years. A few people at Infosys, however, feel that Bala?s new role has a ?light-weight? feel to it. ?This is a kind of ?soft landing? for Bala from a high profile role,? said a person.