Infosys appoints Salil S Parekh as CEO: Some key facts

Indian IT major Infosys today announced the appointment of Salil S Parekh as its new CEO and managing director. Parekh’s appointment puts an end to the over two months of executive search at the Bengaluru-based company. Parekh is a member of the Group Executive Board at French IT services company Capgemini. He has been non-executive director of Capgemini Technology Services India Limited since May 4, 2017.

According to Infosys filing at stock exchanges, Parekh has been appointed for a five-year term effective January 2, 2018. As per a company statement, Infosys interim CEO UB Pravin Rao will be re-designated as the chief operating officer (COO) of the company from January 2. Rao will also continue as whole-time director of the company. He had replaced former CEO Vishal Sikka as interim CEO and managing director in August this year.

Parekh will be the second outsider CEO at Infosys after Sikka.

“We are delighted to have Salil joining as the CEO & MD of Infosys. He has nearly three decades of global experience in the IT services industry. He has a strong track record of executing business turnarounds and managing very successful acquisitions. The Board believes that he is the right person to lead Infosys at this transformative time in our industry,” Nandan Nilekani, chairman of Infosys’ board, said in a filing on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Here are some key facts about Infosy’s new CEO:
* Salil joined Capgemini in the year 2000 after the acquisition of the consulting division of Ernst & Young. During his seventeen years with the company, he has held various leadership positions in the Group. These include the CEO of North America operations, global head of technology services, COO, Asia Pacific; CEO, India, and a partner in the financial services practice in the US.
* Parekh started his career with Ernst & Young in the year 1992 as a Partner.
* Parekh holds Masters degree in Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University in New York. * Parekh holds a Bachelors of Technology degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Powai, Maharashtra (IIT-Bombay).

Infosys had set a deadline of March 2018 to fill the CEO’s position. The company had hired executive search company Egon Zehnder to help it in global search for CEO.
Former CEO Sikka had resigned in August after a spate of allegations pertaining to governance issues leveled by co-founder NR Narayana Murthy. Sikka’s exit led to a reshuffling of the Infosys’ board with Nandan Nilekani, a co-founder and former CEO, returning as non-executive chairman. Nilekani had said at the time that cultural fit would be an important criteria for the top job, making internal candidates “very strong contenders”.
Nilekani is credited with four-fold growth in Infosys’ revenue to $2 billion during his tenure as CEO.