Infosys To Be Led By A Non-founder After Nilekani
Infosys Co-founder and Chairman Nandan Nilekani on Wednesday said he would be succeeded by a non-founder to lead the company.
Speaking at an event commemorating four decades of Infosys, Nilekani said it was clear that the mantle of Infosys Chairman would be taken over by a non-founder after he exits.
He is the last of the co-founders to reprise a role in the IT giant’s board of directors.
“I am the last of the jokers left [at Infosys],” quipped Nilekani, emphasising that he had a challenge in his hands to select a worthy heir to lead the company after his exit.
He expressed his concern saying that there was no ‘plan B’ for Infosys after his exit from the position of Chairman. He said as one of the founders of the company, he had some ‘clout’ to do something if things went wrong while he was still the chairman. But this wouldn’t be the case after he left the board.
Nilekani also said he wouldn’t come back if things went south after he left the company. “I can’t come back at 75,” Nilekani said.
“And I don’t think any of these guys want to come back either,” he added, pointing to other co-founders sitting beside him at the event.
Infosys’ journey began 40 years ago when founder N R Narayanmurthy borrowed USD 250 from his wife Sudha Murthy to start the company along with other co-founders, including Nandan Nilekani, Kris Gopalakrishnan, S D Shibulal and K Dinesh. Today, the IT giant has a market capitalisation of USD 78 billion.
“I have to make sure that when I exit, I implement his [N R Narayanmurthy, founder at Infosys] vision of putting in place a leadership structure with the right values to take it forward. That’s the biggest thing on my head.”
Nilekani stressed that it was important to create institutions that outlive the founders.
“It’s important to think about how to build organisations that span across generations and how to move from ownership model to a ‘professional’ model. In fact, when we first began, Murthy [N R Narayanmurthy] said we will be the ultimate ‘professionals’ company,” he said.
The Infosys Chairman made it clear that he hasn’t found anybody whom he could hand off the reins of the company to. When asked about the timeline for the succession, he denied to comment on it.
