Infosys Appoints Salil S Parekh As CEO, Managing Director

Infosys on Saturday announced the appointment of Salil S Parekh as chief executive officer and managing director. The appointment, Infosys said in a press release, will be effective January 2, 2018. Mr Parekh will replace U B Pravin Rao, who took over as the Bengaluru-based IT company’s interim CEO and managing director in August.

The appointment was approved by the Infosys board of directors for a period of five years, subject to approval of shareholders and other regulatory requirements, if any. The appointment was made based on the recommendation of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee which concluded its global search for a CEO and MD, Infosys said.

Mr Rao will step down as the interim CEO and managing director effective January 2, 2018 and will continue as chief operating officer and a whole-time director of the company, Infosys said.

Commenting on the appointment of Mr Parekh, Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the Infosys board, said, “We are delighted to have Salil joining as the CEO & MD of Infosys. He has nearly three decades of global experience in the IT services industry. He has a strong track record of executing business turnarounds and managing very successful acquisitions.”

“The Board believes that he is the right person to lead Infosys at this transformative time in our industry. The Board is also grateful to Pravin for his leadership during this period of transition.”

Mr Parekh joins Infosys from Capgemini where he was a member of the group executive board. He has Master of Engineering degrees in Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, and a Bachelor of Technology degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

Infosys had set a deadline of March 2018 to fill the top vacancy following the abrupt resignation of former CEO Vishal Sikka in August after a spate of allegations pertaining to governance issues by co-founder N R Narayana Murthy.

Mr Rao was appointed the interim-CEO and managing director of the company on August 18.

Infosys had roped in executive search firm Egon Zehnder to assist in global search for the replacement.