After Vishal Sikka resigned from his post as chief executive officer and managing director of Infosys on Friday, August 18, much has been said about the firm, its operations, co-founder Narayana Murthy's stance and the board of directors. Now, the latest news to trickle in is the longevity of other key members of the firm.
While co-founder Nandan Nilekani is set to return to Infosys as its non-executive chairman soon to take charge of the current crisis and hunt for a new CEO, it is being said that the firm's chairman R Seshasayee and co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan may not be with Infosys for long.
Apart from them, a few other board members too have offered to quit. But Roopa Kudwa and Purnita Kumar Sinha are likely to stay on.
Seshasayee and Venkatesan's decision on their tenure at Infosys is likely to come in the next few days, according to CNBC-TV18. However, it has been said that they may take a decision soon, but will leave only after the IT giant has overcome the current hurdles.
Venkatesan had earlier hoped that Sikka would stay on at Infosys even though numerous high-level exits have dogged the firm in the last few weeks. When asked if he saw Sikka continuing with the firm and delivering results or leaving, Venkatesan told Press Trust of India: "Well I very much hope that it is the former (that Sikka will turn things around), not the latter (that he will turn his back on Infosys due to losing high-profile talents)."
He had also spoken about the series of resignations and said that the senior executives were very talented people and much in demand in the market. While it is not unusual for people to move on, Venkatesan said that the firm needed to ensure that such talents do not leave and the best way to do that was to see that they grew professionally as well as personally at the organisation.
"But when the industry is changing so fast, boss, if people have an opportunity to become a CEO somewhere else and become number 2 somewhere else, we cannot stop them," he added.
Meanwhile, Nilekani, who will be back for a predetermined period, is reportedly yet to make things formal. "The math has to work out for Nilekani to return. It's almost certain that he will come back as a non-executive chairman, but it's not a done deal yet," the Times of India quoted a source as saying.
Amid all the chaos, Sikka's tenure as the executive vice chairman has also come under the limelight now. He had earlier said that he would stay on with Infosys until March 31, 2018, but with the return of Nilekani, he may opt to leave.
Infosys investors HDFC Asset Management, ICICI Prudential Asset Management and Birla SunLife Asset Management among many others have welcomed the idea of Nilekani's return to the firm and have said that this will instill confidence in clients, shareholders as well as the employees, reported Business Today.
