With new CEO in place, Nandan Nilekani steps back at Infosys
BENGALURU: Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and chairman of Infosys Ltd, is increasingly playing a less active executive role at India’s second largest IT outsourcing firm and has handed over responsibilities to new chief executive Salil Parekh and his top lieutenants, according to three people familiar with the developments.
Since returning to Infosys as non-executive chairman on August 24, Nilekani for the most part of his stint operated as a “super CEO”, playing a hands-on role to steer the firm through tumultuous times in the wake of former CEO Vishal Sikka’s departure.
Till December, Nilekani spent at least two or three days a week working out of Infosys’s corporate headquarters in Bengaluru, reviewing the performance of business unit heads, strategising and regularly calling or meeting the firm’s largest clients, which farm out hundreds of millions of dollars worth of business to Infosys every year.
That has changed since Parekh took office on January 2. Since then, Nilekani has gradually cut his visits to office to once or twice a fortnight, allowing the CEO freedom to focus on executive responsibilities—even though both Parekh and Nilekani remain in regular contact over the phone, the people cited earlier said, requesting anonymity.
This move, according to one of the three people, has created a “clear delineation” between the roles of CEO and non-executive chairman. According to the CEO’S contract, Parekh, like Sikka, can use the “Good Reason” clause to terminate his employment agreement with Infosys, and still be eligible for severance payouts, if Infosys appoints an executive chairman.
To be sure, though, Nilekani taking a step back does not mean he plans to leave anytime soon, and he continues to be active on board-level matters, said the three people, who added that he will continue as chairman at least till March. There are three priorities on his agenda, the people said. First, to further reconstitute the current board and appoint new members; second, to find a long-term successor to head the board; and third, to ensure harmony between all key stakehold- ers, including the promoters and the board.
“For Nandan, it’s very important to ensure that the mistakes of the previous succession are not repeated. When Sikka took over in 2014 and all the founders left at one go, it left a huge vacuum on the board. Those gaps were never really filled and the company suffered as a result,” said the first of the people cited earlier.