Vishal Sikka's appointment as the first CEO of Infosys who is neither part of the founding generation nor an insider from Infosys, is a watershed moment for the company, according to analysts.

According to Tom Reuner, principal analyst at Ovum, the announcement comes after a string of high profile resignations of senior executives, many of them had been touted as potential successor to the current CEO S. D. Shibulal, that have led to perceptions of an overbearing influence of Executive Chairman Narayana Murty whom Shibulal succeeded.

“Vishal Sikka was highly regarding within SAP and his remit was to foster innovation. This mindset could be conducive to lead Infosys back to its past glory. Even though this will be his first appointment as CEO, Vishal Sikka combines the cultural affinity to the Indian corporate culture with vast experience in the global marketplace."

"In the end, much of his success will depend on how he will work with Murthy, who despite the intention to step down, will remain a dominating figure at the helm of Infosys - as such there will be more surprises." said Reuner.

Sikka's task is a daunting one: To lead the erstwhile poster boy for the success of the Indian IT sector, that has been epitomised in Thomas Friedman's seminal work 'The World is Flat', back to its former glory. "We envisage a bumpy road ahead for Sikka," Reuner said.

According to stock market experts, the new CEO could lead to restoration of investor confidence into the stock for the timebeing. Additionally, this move would bring more clarity inside the organisation on top management front.

"With a new top management in action, we could see better clarity emerging on sales strategy from here on. This is a positive development for Infy as there have been a series of senior level exits in recent times. Also, better strategic execution coupled with strong new management running the company comforts us that we could soon see Infosys reporting growth in line with industry over the medium-to-long-term," said Daljeet Singh Kohli , Head of Research, IndiaNivesh Securities Ltd.

​​The announcement highlights an increased realisation within the company to get a fresh perspective to its culture, processes, and business by bringing an outside-in perspective. Vishal's proven experience as a leader and innovator is expected to help Infosys.

"In order to be successful, we believe Vishal will have to run two set of priorities in parallel: 1) Continue to focus on traditional IT services deals to meet market and shareholder’s expectations; 2) Develop new capabilities for Infosys to win in the digital world," says Manish Bahl , Vice-President and Country Manager for India, Forrester Research.

According to Bahl, Sikka will have to immediately focus on learning and understanding Infosys' culture and prioritise changes that need to be reflected within the company to get Infosys’ brand story back on track. Addressing attrition-related challenges to strengthen employees confidence into the system and leveraging his product/platform experience to develop new capabilities for Infosys will also be focus areas.

The new CEO will have to move very quickly to first calm the three key stakeholders, employees, customers and the investors, in that order. Infosys cannot afford any more resource departures especially at senior levels.

"He will next have to establish credibility with those stakeholders, again, in a fairly short period and then energise them in the medium to long term. The medium term strategy will have to be fairly close to the knitting of the IT services industry – anything else will create a level of confusion and uncertainty again," said Partha Iyengar, Country Manager - Research, Gartner India

Sikka will also have to become a visible standard bearer for the Infosys brand, something that the Indian IT Services still need at the level of maturity they are at.

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