Infosys’ head of large deals resigns in blow to Sikka
BENGALURU: The executive who heads the large deals team at Infosys Ltd, and was previously in charge of merger sand acquisitions( M& As ), has re signed, dealing a blow to CEO Vis hal Sikka who has struggled to retain top leaders at India’s second-largest software services company since he took over three years ago.
Palo Alto, California-based Ritika Suri—who led the contentious acquisition of Israeli automation technology firm Panaya Ltd—put in her papers last week and is serving out her notice period, according to three people aware of the development.
Mint could not independently confirm the reason for her departure. An email sent to Suri on Monday hadn’ t been answered as of press time.
Suri’s departure comes less than a month after Info sys said an investigation carried out by a US-based law firm did not find any wrongdoing in management’ s decision to buy two firms, including Panaya and mobile commerce firm Skava.
Her exit comes on the heels of the departure of Infosys’ Americas head Sandeep Dadlani, who was overseeing one-third of the company’s annual business, or about $3.5 billion of its total annual revenue. Including Suri, at least 10 executives of the rank of executive vice-president(EVP) and above have quit Info sys since Sikka took over as first non-founder CEO in August 2014.
“While management did not comment on attrition among high performers, we have broader concerns about constant executive turnover,” Keith Bachman, an analyst at BMO Capital Mar- kets, wrote in a July 14 note, after Info sys declared its earnings, and before Suri’s departure.
“We do not comment on speculations related to appointments or exits of executives other than key management personnel,” said an Infosys spokeswoman in an email to Mint.
Suri was Sikka’s former colleague at German business software giant SAP SE, and joined Info sys as a senior vice-president in September 2014 to head the company’s M&A team and new $500-million innovation fund.
Elevated to EVP last year, she was one of the 16 SAP executives to join Infosys with the rank of associate vice-president and above since Sikka took over as CEO. However, since last March, four of these former SAP executives have quit Info sys, including the head of industrial internet business Gordon Mu ehl, Edge Verve head Michael Re hand chief legal officer David Kennedy.
According to the executives mentioned above, Suri’s term was unconvincing at best, given Info sys’ sm ix ed track record with acquisitions and startup investments over the past three years.