BANGALORE: BG Srinivas, frontrunner and favourite for the post of first ‘non co-founder’ CEO at IT bellwether company, Infosys, has resigned from the company with effect June 10, 2014. The most likely reason, according to unconfirmed sources, is that he will not be made CEO.
His resignation marks the 10th high profile exit from the Bangalore-based company after the return of co-founder and former CEO NR Narayana Murthy as chairman and his son Rohan Murthy as his executive assistant. Srinivas, who had openly declared that he was ‘in the race’ for the CEO’s post, resigning has also thrown open the race for the top job. Srinivas along with UB Pravin Rao (also in CEO race) had recently been elevated as Presidents of the company.
Sources also claiming that the ‘father-son’ duo are taking all necessary measures including trimming the large bench strength and listing their choice for CEO post to bring back the lost fortunes of the company.
Unconfirmed sources said that the new CEO is most likely to be from outside the company. Infosys has roped in executive search firm Egon Zehnder to come up with a list of suitable candidate from outside the company to replace incumbent CEO SD Shibulal who will retire in January 2015. Recent reports indicate that the external list of candidates include former SAP chief Vishal Sikka, Francisco D’souza from Cognizant and Shankar Annaswamy former MD of IBM.
“My tenure at Infosys has been one of my most rewarding experiences, and I am proud to have contributed to the best growth story in the industry,” Srinivas said in a statement released to the media.
Commenting on Srinivas’ exit, Murthy said “BG Srinivas has been an integral part of Infosys and has played an important role in the company’s growth. The Board and every Infoscion thanks BG Srinivas for his wonderful contribution and wish him great success in his future endeavors.” Infosys had interviewed at least seven people from among their ranks for the top job, according to recent reports.