Change is a part of life, says S D Shibulal

Says Infosys has left behind the tough times

"Change is a part of life" were the parting words of S D Shibulal, the outgoing CEO of Infosys, who started the IT company with six friends over three decades back and turned it into an over $8 billion entity.

The last of seven co-founders to hold the CEO position at Infosys, Shibulal will pass the baton to former Board member of German software giant SAP, Vishal Sikka -- the first outsider. Sikka officially takes charge from August 1.

Announcing Infosys' results today for the last time as CEO and Managing Director, Shibulal said he is leaving behind a stronger firm.

"I believe life changes and it is a part of life. But, it has been a great ride," he said.

Recounting the different problems the IT major was facing when he took over in August 2011, Shibulal said the firm has left behind the tough times.

"We were coming out of an economic crisis and our customers were tentative in their decisions. The macroeconomic conditions were uncertain. We were faced with trailing business momentum and were dealing with multiple internal challenges,employee retaliation cases... Today these challenges are behind us," Shibulal said.

When asked if he could have had a better farewell, he said, "I have no regrets...I am not a person who believes in hindsight".

Infosys today reported a healthy 21.6% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,886 crore for the quarter ended June 30 against a net profit of Rs 2,374 crore in the year-ago period.

Consolidated revenue for the reported quarter was up 13.3% to Rs 12,770 crore from Rs 11,267 crore in the year-ago period.

Listing the achievements of Infosys during his tenure, Shibulal said the margins of the company were moving in the right direction.

"A US court has dismissed the law suit filed by the employees and we have settled all others. We have revamped our compliance regime and have won five large outsourcing deals amounting to 700 million dollars TCV (Total Contract Value).

We made a strategic acquisition of Lodestone to increase our presence in consultancy in Europe and doubled our revenue growth in FY 14 compared with FY 13," Shibulal elaborated.

He further highlighted that the Infosys' clients had remained intact and it had not lost a single client due to these challenges.

"Going forward, I believe that I am leaving a stronger Infosys behind.

I wish Vishal and his team the very best, " said Shibulal who will be passing on the CEO baton to Vishal Sikka.

Sikka is the former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of SAP AG and has served as a member of its Executive Board.