Infosys global sales head quits

Pradhan, who had re-joined Infosys in June 2011, said in a twitter post on Tuesday that he may start his own company

Infosys’ global head of sales and marketing Basab Pradhan (pictured) has announced his resignation, a little more than two years after rejoining the information technology firm.

Pradhan, who is also a member of the executive council — a high-level body that frames Infosys’ business strategy — said in a Twitter post on Tuesday he might start his own company. “Leaving Infosys to go back to the start-up world. To all my friends at Infosys — please stay in touch,” Pradhan tweeted.  An Infosys spokesperson confirmed the development.

This is the first high-profile exit from Infosys after its co-founder N R Narayana Murthy returned as the executive chairman last month.   

Pradhan, known to be close to Infosys chief executive officer and managing director S D Shibulal, rejoined the company in June 2011 to drive the global sales and marketing. His return to Infosys was perceived as vital to drive its 3.0 strategy, as a part of which the company was trying to position itself as a global consulting major.

Murthy had in his address to the shareholders at the company’s 32nd annual general meeting last month acknowledged that in its pursuit of positing itself as a specialist consulting player, Infosys had lost focus on its “bread and butter” application development and maintenance business. He had also committed to bring back the focus on this revenues stream while at the same time accelerating progress in other business streams.

Pradhan, in his first innings at Infosys, headed global sales. He joined Infosys in July 2002 when Phaneesh Murthy, the then director and head of global sales and marketing, quit after being sued for sexual harassment by a former employee.

After quitting Infosys in 2005, he founded financial research firm Gridstone Research. However, the company shut down in April 2010.