Coforge appoints Akhil Gupta as independent chairperson for five years

Gupta, former vice chairman of Bharti Enterprises, will serve for five years from September 29 as non-executive independent director and chairperson

Mid-tier IT services firm Coforge has appointed Akhil Gupta as its chairperson, replacing O P Bhatt, who stepped down earlier this month following a governance and disclosure-related issue.

 

Gupta, whose five-year tenure begins on September 29, will also serve as a non-executive independent director, the company said in a late filing with the BSE on Monday.

 

He was formerly vice chairman of Bharti Enterprises and is also a member of the boards of Zepto, Snapdeal, Eutelsat Communications and Lodha Developers. He is also chairman of Bharti Life Insurance.

 

“We ran a very rigorous and intense global search process in partnership with Egon Zehnder with a focus on finding a candidate with the highest governance experience, professional expertise, and strategic perspectives,” said Vivek Sharma, non-executive director and interim chairperson.

 

 

Coforge ran into controversy after its non-executive chairman Bhatt resigned with immediate effect following concerns raised by the internal auditor over the manner in which the board evaluation report (BER) was dealt with and presented to the board by him.

 

As part of the internal audit plan for the second quarter, the auditor reviewed the process followed in relation to the Board Evaluation Exercise under the chairman’s guidance and the subsequent BER presented to the board.

 

The review identified certain concerns regarding the manner in which the BER had been handled, including that certain material information contained in or relating to the BER and the performance of the chairman had not been fully disclosed.

 

Sudhir Singh, chief executive officer and executive director, said: “We are very excited to have Akhil Gupta join us as the chairperson at a very important time for the industry and the firm. Gupta was instrumental in Bharti Enterprises successfully navigating multiple business shifts during his watch and association with Bharti Enterprises. As our industry, in turn, navigates the AI-led era and as Coforge pivots towards making the promise of AI real for enterprises, we welcome Gupta as he steps onto the board.”