Infy rejigs top deck, lines up possible successors to CEO

Srinivas, Rao promoted as presidents; executive council disbanded

Infosys on Friday set the ball rolling on succession by promoting B G Srinivas and U B Pravin Rao as presidents, dividing almost all the business functions between the two.

The surprise move to create the new positions in India’s second largest information technology services company is seen as a precursor to the selection of the chief executive officer when incumbent S D Shibulal retires next year. The company has also disbanded its executive council (EC), a top decision-making body, giving a clear signal that the aspirants for the top post have now been limited to only two. The council would cease to exist from April 1, 2014.

Only two months ago, Infosys had expanded the executive council by adding 12 members, a decision taken after the return of co-founder N R Narayana Murthy as the executive chairman in June last year.

An analyst with a domestic brokerage firm said: “It is clear now that one of these two presidents is going to be the next CEO while the other could become the COO (chief operating officer).”

A former senior executive of the company said with Srinivas being the senior among the two and having been a board member handling important verticals and geographies for quite some time, he has a fair chance of making it to the top post. “It is quite certain,” the person added.

Srinivas, who has long been seen as a contender for the top job at Infosys, is a board member as well as head of Europe, and global head of banking, financial services and insurance. He was recently appointed as the chairman of Infosys Lodestone.

Rao, earlier a senior vice-president and global head of retail, consumer packaged goods, logistics and life sciences businesses, was inducted to the board after the exit of V Balakrishnan last month. Balakrishnan, a board member, headed Infosys BPO, Finacle and the India business unit. He was also the chairman of Infosys Lodestone.

Srinivas and Rao would report to Shibulal.

Infosys said in a release: “The business portfolios will be realigned under the two presidents..... In addition, B G Srinivas will focus on global markets and U B Pravin Rao will focus on global delivery and service innovation. In view of these changes, the executive council, as a forum, will cease to exist with effect from April 1, 2014.”

In his new role, Srinivas would lead several teams, including financial services, insurance, manufacturing, engineering services, energy and communications, Infosys Public Services, Infosys Lodestone, Strategic Global Sourcing, and marketing and alliances. Rao would head the retail, consumer packaged goods and logistics, life sciences, resources and utilities, services, growth markets, cloud and mobility, and quality and productivity teams, as well as Infosys Leadership institute, the company added.

Shibulal said: “These changes will further enhance our focus on deepening client relationships, increasing market share, creating service differentiation through innovation and agility in execution.”

After his return to Infosys last year, Narayana Murthy has been experimenting with various models and structures to bring growth back to the company. This has also resulted in a slew of exits.

According to industry experts, today’s development may disappoint several other senior executives at Infosys, and the company may be more exits in coming months.