Top execs exit at Infosys, Wipro underscores importance of talent creation

To mitigate attrition of senior leaders industry experts say companies must prioritise providing challenging projects that align with aspirations, skill sets of these seasoned professionals

Infosys, India’s second-largest IT services player, has been in the news recently as several senior leaders have quit to join the competition or taken on senior roles at other companies. The most recent one to join the long list of exits is Nilanjan Roy, CFO of the company.

The Indian IT services sector, however, is not new to such upheaval. Rather, all of the top players have time and again seen such senior-level exits. Every time this happened, the markets reacted negatively, but that did not mean that these firms saw a long-term impact.

At present, it is both Infosys and Wipro that are facing such an exodus. From January to December, Infosys has seen nine senior executives resign. In August alone, Infosys announced the stepping down of three senior executives.

The situation is similar in the case of another major IT services firm from Bengaluru. Wipro has seen close to 10 senior exits this year. The most significant one was Jatin Dalal, CFO who quit after over two decades of a stint to join rival Cognizant. And the second, much more recent, was Stephanie Trautman, Wipro’s chief growth officer.

Of course, who can forget the shocker when the country’s largest IT services firm announced last year that its CEO, Rajesh Gopinathan, is stepping down, even as he had over a decade of career left within the company.

Historically, however, such incidents have continued to be part of the sector. In 2005, the street was taken aback when Vivek Paul, president and chairman of Wipro for six years, resigned. Paul was around 46 years old and left Wipro to join PE player TPG. Paul had joined Wipro as Ashok Soota quit Wipro and founded his firm, Mindtree.

Post Paul, Wipro saw several new experiments at its helm, including a dual CEO structure. After this, the company went on to have new CEOs at the helm. But in all the cases across companies, the common thread was that new leaders continued to come from within the company.

There are a few common threads to look at these exits, explain HR executives. First, for every senior exit that happened, there was a leader in waiting who was brought in promptly, which shows the leadership quality within the firms.

The only exception was the appointment of Vishal Sikka as CEO at Infosys as the founders exited, and the current CEO of Wipro, Thierry Delaporte, and Abidali Neemuchwala who came from TCS.

Two, with the rush of growth post the pandemic slowing down, many of the leaders are moving to firms that may be smaller but are growing much faster and have the headroom to grow. And finally, especially in the case of CFOs, managing just margins without any real growth is setting in fatigue.

“Executive movements in the IT and ITeS sector have been taking place despite the slow market scenario. This trend finds its roots in the swift evolution of technology, particularly with AI reshaping traditional work paradigms. In this demanding period, companies are investing in executive hiring to spearhead innovation and expansion despite market challenges. Executives in the MNCs are highly sought-after, given their diverse domain and managing large teams. Consequently, heightened demand has led to increased executive resignations as these sought-after leaders explore new opportunities,” said Aditya Mishra, MD & CEO of CIEL HR.

A senior employee of Infosys said on condition of anonymity that while the exact reason for Roy’s resignation cannot be ascertained, Infosys has a strong leadership pipeline and therefore business continuity should be unaffected. “As employees, it is business as usual for us and I am quite confident the company will not be adversely impacted in any manner,” he said.

Anshul Lodha, regional director at Michael Page India, says, “Leadership taken from large firms are being chased by smaller players and being offered better roles and very attractive compensation. Given these companies are also in a high growth stage, candidates feel excited about the growth prospects of the platform.

One also has to factor in the subdued growth the Indian IT services have seen, which may spill over to the first quarter of FY25. While this is accentuated among the large IT players, some of the smaller players with niche focus have seen double-digit growth. One such case could be Pune-based Persistent Systems, which hired Gurvinder Sahni, who was with Wipro for 20 years, as its CMO.

Kamal Karanth, co-founder and CEO of Xpheno, shares that despite a tight market, CFOs are in demand as they bring in the necessary control and hence become even more critical. “This is a scenario not specific to IT services; this is applicable across sectors. We have mandates for the CFO roles from startups to conglomerates,” he adds.

Karanth, however, clarifies that companies are looking for certain skill sets when even hiring for such a senior role. Companies are looking for CFOs who bring certain core competencies like raising funds from public or private markets, divesting non-profitable assets, or M&A experiences. With India leading the IPOs this year, experienced CFOs who have taken their past employers public are in demand.

In the case of TCS’ Gopinathan, who was the CFO of the company before he took over the CEO’s role, he joined BCG Consulting in an advisor’s role. In the case of Dalal, he joined Cognizant as the firm is restructuring under a new CEO, S Ravikumar, who comes from Infosys. Roy has stepped down as he wants to explore opportunities outside of Infosys.

To mitigate the attrition of senior leaders, Mishra said companies must prioritise providing challenging projects that align with the aspirations and skill sets of these seasoned professionals. “Moreover, fostering a culture that values and recognises their contributions while offering a clear career progression path can further incentivise senior leaders to stay committed to the company's long-term vision,” he added.