Infy global sales head resigns

Basab Pradhan, senior vice-president and head of worldwide sales, Infosys Technologies Ltd, is quitting to start a new venture, which is most likely to be a BPO firm.

It is learnt that Pradhan will be joined in this venture by Ganapathi, a senior executive from Progeon, the BPO subsidiary of Infosys.

Confirming Pradhan's decision to quit, Infosys said that in the past two days he had expressed his desire to move on from Infosys. The company is yet to name a replacement for Pradhan as he is in the transition period. "We will surely name a replacement in the near future," an Infosys spokesperson said.

Pradhan is the third high- profile executive to quit India's leading new economy companies in the recent past.

Raman Roy was the first when he quit Wipro to start a BPO firm, which is reported likely to be funded by Texas Pacific Group, a private equity fund which Vivek Paul joined as partner after quitting Wipro.

Pradhan's decision comes after half a dozen senior executives quit Infosys to join multi-national organisations. He took over as the head of worldwide sales from Phaneesh Murthy quit Infosys on being sued by former colleagues over harassment.

As senior vice-president, Pradhan played dual roles in Infosys. As Head of Worldwide Sales he oversaw the company's global sales strategy and direction in the more than 30 countries in which Infosys does business.

As Strategic Unit Head, he had operational responsibility for the Retail, Distribution, Consumer Packaged Goods, Insurance, Healthcare, Transportation, Communication Service Providers and Life Sciences verticals. In addition, he was one of Infosys' thought leaders on the subjects of outsourcing and IT strategy.

Pradhan joined Infosys in 1994, serving in various capacities including Regional Manager and Vice President of Sales for West & Midwest North America. In these roles his work has centered on creating and implementing IT strategies for Infosys' clients in that region.

Prior to joining Infosys, Pradhan held various management positions with Unilever in their Indian office. Pradhan received a Bachelor's Degree in technology from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, and a Master's Degree in business administration from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad.