Having an insider as CEO fuels everybody's aspirations: U B Pravin Rao

Interview with President, Infosys

When Infosys appointed U B Pravin Rao as one of two presidents in January, it was clear he would be one of the few internal candidates to be considered for the position of chief executive officer (CEO) when incumbent S D Shibulal retired. In an interview with Bibhu Ranjan Mishra and Itika Sharma Punit, Rao says right now, his only focus is executing his current job well. Edited excerpts:

You are being counted as a contender for the post of CEO.

This is my first job, the only job. I have spent all my adult life here. I am very proud of the fact that I have come to this level. But there can be only one CEO and it’s not that everyone has to be a CEO. I have tremendous experience here and have absolutely no regret. I am just focusing on my current job and the new responsibility the company has entrusted me with. I think we just have to do our jobs well. There is a nominations committee and I am very confident it will make the right decision.

Don’t you think you are in a precarious situation, as the two presidents will be pitted against each other during the hunt for a CEO?

That is fair; that’s how it works. Not just for the CEO’s post, that’s how it works at the time of any promotion, at any level. I have worked at Infosys for so many years. It wasn’t as if every year I got my due. There have been times when there were better candidates; that’s the reality. One has to be mature about it.

Do you think Infosys is ready to have an outsider as CEO?

We recruit outsiders at every level. So, I don’t think there should be any problem in considering an outsider for the CEO’s post. It’s always a proud moment when you have an insider because it fuels everybody’s aspirations. But I think ultimately, as long as we find the right candidate, it’s all good.

For the second consecutive quarter, your revenue from North America has seen a decline. Why?

Unlike Europe, North America is a mature market. So, you can expect some degree of volatility in that market. It has more to do with client-specific issues than macroeconomic issues. As we have stated earlier, some project ramp-downs and postponements in North America impacted our revenue from that geography negatively. However, it is not a secular trend.

Does that mean those projects have been cancelled or will those come back to you in the future?

At the least, we expect the majority of those to come back after a period. The fact that those were approved earlier means those were critical to clients. However, in case clients change their priorities, the projects might not come back to us in the near future.

In the last few months, Infosys has seen many top-level exits. Aren’t your clients concerned about this?

In the past two-three years, the only time clients had expressed concern was when we had a visa issue and an overhang on investigation. It was because that was a reputation risk for the company.

On senior exits, clients understand every company goes through that process. I don’t think they have a big issue on this. Obviously, we want to keep attrition low at the senior level. But we are probably less concerned about senor level exits and more about the overall attrition.

Why has attrition risen to an all-time high? What are the steps the company is taking to address this?

It is a combination of factors. At the junior level, people aspire for growth, as well as compensation. If you are growing, there are enough promotion opportunities. You can’t promote people just for the sake of it. Only when growth happens and more roles are created can people move up. We are re-skilling employees internally and reducing the dependence on external hiring.