Infosys chooses Capgemini’s Salil S. Parekh as its new CEO & MD

BANGALORE, INDIA: Infosys has appointed Salil S. Parekh as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director (CEO & MD) of the Company effective January 2, 2018. Parekh joins Infosys from Capgemini where he was a member of the Group Executive Board.

The 53-year-old Parekh is joining the company at a crucial juncture when the company is pushed into the limelight for all the wrong reasons. The ex-CEO, Vishal Sikka had resigned from the company in August this year amidst a long boardroom battle with co-founder Narayana Murthy.

The interim CEO and Managing Director, U B Pravin Rao will step down and will continue as Chief Operating Officer and a whole-time Director of the Company. He had been appointed as the interim MD and CEO of the company after the abrupt exit of Sikka, when the search for a successor to Sikka had started.

It is the second time in a row that Infosys has chosen an outsider to run the company. The company has been run by the founders mostly in its more than three decades of existence.

Parekh was seen as one of the contenders to succeed Capgemini CEO Paul Hermelin when he retired and was in the running with Vishal Sikka for the Infosys CEO post also in 2014.

Unlike Sikka, who is known as a visionary in products and innovation, Parekh has nearly three decades of global experience in the IT services industry.

Commenting on the appointment, Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of the Infosys Board said, “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.”