Infosys' cloud, infrastructure biz head Samson David quits

David to join Hewlett Packard Enterprise as an executive vice-president in-charge of Enterprise Services Delivery

Just as Infosys is readying to announce its June quarter results on Friday, another senior exit is likely to be a cause of concern for the Bengaluru-based company.

It is expected to deliver better-than-expected financial numbers.

Samson David, Infosys’ senior vice-president (VP) and global head (cloud, infrastructure and security), has quit. David joined Infosys in 1992 as a trainee engineer and then gradually grew up in the ladder to become a senior vice-president and global head for cloud, infrastructure and security. He was also entrusted with the responsibility of heading Mana, an artificial intelligence platform the company has recently launched.

David, a Bachelor’s in Engineering from Pune’s College of Engineering who joined Infosys as a trainee engineer in 1992, is set to join Hewlett Packard Enterprise as a senior VP for Enterprise Services Delivery. He would report to Mike Nefkens, executive VP and general manager, HP Enterprise Services.

Even though David was not in the management team, which includes the executive officers, presidents and executive vice-presidents, yet he is considered key.

The company confirmed this development. A spokesperson of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the company he is joining, stated: “We can confirm that Samson David will join Hewlett Packard Enterprise as senior vice-president, Enterprise Services Delivery, reporting to Mike Nefkens.”

Infosys’ last leadership transition has resulted in a churn in the senior leadership during the past two years, even though none of these exits has restrained the company from its vision of delivering strong financial results.

Ever since Vishal Sikka, a former technology head at software maker SAP, took over the role of the chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) at Infosys in August 2014, the company has seen exit of senior leaders in regular intervals.

Sectoral experts say such exits are quite common, especially at a time when a company sees huge changes in the top management. After a new leader takes charge, he or she gradually hand-picks the team that will best suit in achieving his/her vision for the company.

During the past two years, the company has seen few exits at the top level including Sanjay Jalona, a former executive VP who was heading manufacturing and hightech businesses; Rajiv Bansal, former chief financial officer (CFO); Michael Reh, head of product and platform subsidiary EdgeVerve; Gautam Thakkar, former CEO & MD of Infosys BPO; and Hargopal Mangipudi, head Infosys’ universal banking product, Finacle.

While Jalona joined L&T Infotech, a subsidiary of engineering major Larsen & Toubro as its CEO & MD, Bansal joined taxi aggregation platform provider Ola as its CFO.
 

David, a Bachelor in Engineering from Pune’s College of Engineering, is set to join Hewlett Packard Enterprise as a senior VP for Enterprise Services Delivery. He would report to Mike Nefkens, Executive VP and General Manager, HP Enterprise Services.