Need Infosys chief executive: CTOs not welcome to apply?
No one can take credit away from the band of merry men who founded Infosys Ltd (then Infosys Technologies Ltd) in 1981. The seven engineers, who had previously worked at Patni Computer Systems Ltd, figure among those who landed India on the global technology map.
Chief among them was NR Narayana Murthy (a professional then), who was hired by Narendra Patni.
Murthy had studied electrical engineering at the National Institute of Engineering, University of Mysore, and is an MTech from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur.
Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys, has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from IIT-Bombay.
Kris Gopalakrishnan obtained an M.Sc. (physics) in 1977 and MTech (computer science) in 1979, both from IIT-Madras. SD Shibulal, too, earned his M.Sc. in physics and an M.S. degree in computer science from Boston.
Hence, when Vishal Sikka resigned—as reported that Murthy had claimed in an email that he had been told by at least three independent directors that he (Sikka) was more chief technology officer (CTO) material than chief executive officer (CEO) material—it begs the question: When does one take a call on who is CTO material and who is made of CEO stuff, especially when hiring for technology companies in a digital world?
To begin with, in today’s digital world, it’s almost impossible for a person with a non-technical background to head a tech firm.
Most chief executives, and not all our founders, of global technology companies can easily pass off as CTOs rather than CEOs. The names include Mark Zuckberg (Facebook Inc.), Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Alphabhet Inc.) and Elon Musk (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, and Tesla Inc.).
Sikka, who took over from Shibulal as the first non-founder CEO and MD of Infosys from August 1, 2014 to become the company’s first non-founder chief executive, had a Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University and was former SAP AG global product head.
So was the Peter principle— the idea that in business, people are promoted into jobs with duties they cannot fulfil—in play?
Till 2012, Infosys was the darling of most analysts and the media. When the growth of Infosys was slowing under the leadership of Shibulal, who was then heading the company, there was clamour for the return of Narayana Murthy—who was Infosys’s CEO from 1981 to 2002. Many expected a quick turnaround when Murthy, then chairmanemeritus, took an active role as additional director and executive chairman of the Infosys board on June 1, 2013.
That was not to be. There were almost 10 high-profile exits including that of BG Srinivas, who was then seen by many as the “probable” CEO. These, coupled with the earlier exits of former chief financial officers (CFOs) Mohandas Pai and V. Balakrishnan—affected the morale of employees, leading to higher attrition rates.
Following Sikka’s resignation on Friday, R. Seshasayee, chairman of the Infosys Board, said in a statement: “Vishal has made a seminal contribution to the transformation of Infosys, and he will be remembered for infusing a refreshed sense of direction, purpose and energy in the organisation.”
The Infosys management also acknowledged that when “Dr. Sikka took over, the company was lagging behind industry growth. During Dr. Sikka’s tenure as CEO, Infosys revenues have grown from $2.13 billion in Q1FY15 to $2.65 billon this past Q1, with strong margin performance and cash generation, throughout his tenure.”
Going by the Infosys management’s admission, the CTO appears to have done a CEO’s job quite well. The question now, as the Infosys stock plunges, is— Who will Infosys project as its “cutting-edge” face in this digital world where firms are increasingly asking for solutions around the internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI)?