New Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka

It has been an year of ups and downs for the IT behemoth Infosys Limited. It has been an year since the co-founder NRN returned back into the saddle to virtually lead the 8+ Billion USD organisation. 

In this intervening time, the organisation saw a slew of senior executive exits. Infy started its search for a new CEO three months back, and since then, the CEO search was widely tracked by the media.

Today, Infosys has announced the appointment of Dr. Vishal Sikka as the new CEO of Infosys.

Vishal Sikka

Sikka, all of 47, born in Baroda, India, is a leader in the world of technolgy. Not until long ago, Sikka was associated with SAP AG as a CTO, growing from his earlier role as a Chief Software Architect. 

For the first time in the history of 30+ years of Infosys, a non-founder will be the CEO of the company which put India on the world map of global IT.

As the CTO of SAP AG, he was responsible SAP HANA and all other products. HANA has been a money spinner for SAP, generating 633 Million USD in 2013. 

He is considered as a visionary in the world of technology, with a keen focus on products. His appointment as the CEO of Infosys, long considered to be a services organisation with an emerging focus on products and platforms will be closely tracked.

Sikka considered his appointment with a sense of pride and humility. Sikka's mother was a teacher and his father a railway engineer. With his modest background, his elevation to the CEO of the global IT behemoth is a reflection of aspirations of each and every Indian.

Born in Madhya Pradesh to Punjabi parents, Sikka was brought up in Gujrat. Sikka's wife calls him a "Fake Punjabi". In his first press conference as the Infy CEO designate, Sikka received wide spread appreciation from NRN, Shibu, Kris and the Board of Infosys.

NRN is determined to give a free hand to Sikka to run the organisation. 

Vishal Sikka

NRN will be stepping down from his current role as the Executive Chairman on June 14, 2014. He will continue till Oct 10, 2014 as a Non-Executive Chairman, before taking up the role of Chairman Emeritus.

Kris Gopalakrishnan, the current Executive Vice Chairman, will also be relinquishing his current role, to assume Non-Executive duties till Oct 10, 2014.

The current CEO, SD Shibulal, will be stepping down from the role of CEO on 31st July, 2014, almost 8 months ahead of schedule. 

Vishal Sikka will don the hats of the CEO from 1st Aug 2014. NRN and Kris will have an overlap of almost 3 months with Sikka to enable a smooth transition.

Most importantly, the Chairman's Office, bought into force with the re-entry of NRN, will be dissolved from June 14, 2014. NRN's son, Rohan Murty, will be stepping down too, from his role in the Chairman's Office. 

There are a set of other changes within the organisation, but Sikka's appointment as the CEO is the most important.

NRN has said "I am pleased with the selection of Dr. Vishal Sikka as our new CEO. Vishal brings valuable experience as a leader of a large, global corporation. His illustrious track record and value system make him an ideal choice to lead Infosys. On behalf of all of us at Infosys, I would like to thank Mr. Gopalakrishnan, Mr. Shibulal and Mr. Batni for their contributions."

You can read the entire press release here.

Infy is 33 years old today. With Sikka leading Infy into the second part of a century, he carries the weight of aspirations of 160 thousand plus employees, and dreams of a industry. His appointment is bound to raise the alarm bells among the competitors.

All in all, exciting times are seen ahead for Infosys, to conquer back its lost glory as the IT bellwether.