Infosys’s head of large deals Ritika Suri resigns
EXODUS Suri’s departure follows that of Infosys’s America head Sandeep Dadlani
The executive who heads the large deals team at Infosys Ltd and was previously in charge of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), has resigned in a significant blow to chief executive officer (CEO) Vishal Sikka, who has struggled to retain top leaders at the second largest software services firm since he took over as CEO three years ago.
According to three people aware of the development, 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.
could not independently confirm the reason behind her departure.
Suri’s departure comes less than a month after Infosys said that an investigation carried out by a US-based law firm did not find any wrongdoing in management’s decision to buy two companies, including Panaya and mobile commerce firm Skava.
Her exit comes on the heels of the departure of Infosys’s America’s head Sandeep Dadlani, a veteran who was overseeing a 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 Infosys since Sikka took over as Infosys’s first non-founder CEO in August 2014.
An email sent to Infosys on Saturday and Monday seeking comment went unanswered.
Suri was Sikka’s former colleague at German business software giant SAP SE, and joined Infosys as a senior vice-president in September 2014 to head up the company’s M&A team and newly formed $500-million innovation fund.
Elevated to executive vice president (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 March last year, four of these former SAP executives have quit Infosys, including the head of the industrial internet business Gordon Muehl, EdgeVerve head Michael Reh and chief legal officer David Kennedy.
According to the executives mentioned above, Suri’s term was unconvincing at best, given Infosys’s mixed track record with acquisitions and start-up investments over the past three years. Sikka entrusted Suri to lead M&A in December 2014, a role in which she continued for the next year-and-a-half.
In July 2016, Sikka reversed his earlier decision and in a surprise move, asked Suri to head the large deals team at Infosys and tasked Deepak Padaki (who was the head of M&A before Suri was appointed) with the responsibility to once again lead the M&A team.
In the nine months starting February 2015, Infosys spent $390 million in buying three companies, including $200 million on automation firm Panaya, $120 million on mobile commerce firm Skava, and $70 million on Noah Consulting.
The acquisition of Panaya was controversial as a few employees and some Infosys founders, including NR Narayana Murthy, questioned the rationale to buy the Israeli company.
Infosys’s then chief financial officer, Rajiv Bansal, expressed his reservations and even walked out of a board meeting when board members were asked to approve a proposal to buy Panaya in February 2015.
Bansal believed the acquisition was ill-thought-out and did not offer much by way of value to Infosys although he subsequently accepted the decision made by Sikka and board.