Nilekani to step down as Infosys CEO

Photograph, courtesy Infosys: Infosys founders (Left to right): Nandan Nilekani, S Gopalakrishnan, N R Narayana Murthy, K Dinesh, N S Raghavan and S D Shibulal. The board of directors of Infosys Technologies Limited on Friday approved changes at the senior level management, with Nandan M Nilekani becoming co-chairman of the board, effective June 22.

In an official statement, the Nasdaq-listed software major said: 'The board of directors felt that having both an executive chairman and a CEO would best serve the organisation. The board has named Nandan M Nilekani, CEO and managing director as co-chairman of the board of directors.'

'The board,' said the Infosys statement, 'also appointed Kris Gopalakrishnan, COO, president and joint managing director as CEO and managing director and S D Shibulal as COO. These changes would be effective June 22, 2007. N. R. Narayana Murthy would continue to be the chairman and chief mentor.'

N R Narayana Murthy, said in the statement, "The hugely successful CEO, Nandan Nilekani, has voluntarily decided, at a young age, to pass on the baton to a worthy successor chosen by the board -- Kris Gopalakrishnan. Kris is gentle but firm, consultative yet decisive, and thoughtful yet action-oriented. Shibulal is smart, focused, detailed and target-oriented. He makes an ideal COO. I am sure Nandan, Kris and Shibu will together perform extremely well with the high performance team they have. My best wishes to all of them."

Claude Smadja, chairman of the nomination committee, said, "Going through the nomination process, it was obvious that Kris and Shibulal were the best candidates to take the relay from Nandan and Kris respectively, in terms of leadership capabilities, vision and gravitas."

Nandan Nilekani said, "In my new role, I will focus on key client relationships, be a brand ambassador, deal with broad industry issues, provide global thought leadership, lead some transformation initiatives and contribute to strategy."

Kris Gopalakrishnan said, "My focus would be to make Infosys more competitive, increase productivity further, continue to be a leader in corporate governance, attract the best of global talent and enhance brand equity further."

S D Shibulal said, "As COO, I will focus on four main areas -- increase competitiveness, improve customer experience, further increase employee engagement and increase the depth of services."

(Above) Infosys founders (Left to right): Nandan Nilekani, S Gopalakrishnan, N R Narayana Murthy, K Dinesh, N S Raghavan and S D Shibulal.

Photograph, courtesy Infosys