The Infosys Board of Directors announced the selection of Dr. Vishal Sikka of SAP as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director (CEO & MD) of the company. Sikka will be inducted as a whole-time director of the Board and CEO & MD (Designate) on June 14, 2014. He will take over as CEO & MD from Mr. S. D. Shibulal on August 1, 2014.
The Board has also elevated U.B. Pravin Rao, President and whole-time director, as Chief Operating Officer, with effect from June 14, 2014.
Dr. Vishal Sikka was, until recently, a member of the Executive Board of SAP AG, leading all products and driving innovation globally. He has worked closely with leaders of global companies in building breakthrough business solutions. At SAP, he was responsible for all products, from traditional and cloud-based applications to technology and platform products including HANA, analytics, mobile and middleware. In addition, Sikka led multiple initiatives to accelerate innovation and research at SAP. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University, USA.
Commenting on his appointment, Dr. Sikka said, “I am honored to lead Infosys, an iconic company built by pioneers in the technology industry. I look forward to working with and learning from talented Infoscions around the world. Computing technology is reshaping every industry across every walk of life. We, at Infosys, have a unique opportunity to deliver breakthrough solutions that will bring greater value to our clients, employees, investors and other stakeholders. I am grateful to the Infosys Nominations and Governance Committee, Mr. Kamath, Mr. Murthy and the Board for this opportunity.”
N.R. Narayana Murthy and Mr. S. Gopalakrishnan will voluntarily step down as Executive Chairman and Executive Vice Chairman, respectively, on June 14, 2014. In order to facilitate a smooth transition of responsibilities, they will continue on the Board till October 10, 2014 as the Non-executive Chairman and Non-executive Vice Chairman, respectively
Mr. K. V. Kamath will become the Non-executive Chairman of the Board on October 11, 2014
Murthy will be designated as Chairman Emeritus with effect from October 11, 2014 in recognition of his contributions to the company
S. D. Shibulal will step down as CEO & MD and from the Board on July 31, 2014
Srinath Batni, whole-time Director of the company, will step down from the Board on July 31, 2014
In addition, the company has elevated twelve leaders to the position of Executive Vice President with additional responsibilities
The Executive Chairman’s office will be dissolved with effect from June 14, 2014. Dr. Rohan Murty, whose appointment was co-terminus with the Executive Chairman, will leave the company on June 14, 2014. The remaining members of the Chairman’s office will take up other responsibilities in the company.