Ravi Venkatesan moving to ‘exciting new role’

Ravi Venkatesan, who has been an independent director since 2011, has resigned from Infosys.

Venkatesan, who also briefly served as a co-chairman at India’s second largest software exporter, said in a statement that he is stepping down from the board to accept an “exciting new role”. He joined the board when Infosys was transitioning from a founder-led management to a professional one.

“This was also a time of tectonic industry shifts. I am pleased that this mission has been accomplished. Infosys is strong, in good hands, and is gaining momentum,” he added. He continues to be the Chairman of Bank of Baroda,

Venkatesan’s exit comes in the backdrop of a slew of changes at Infosys following a bitter feud between its founders and Vishal Sikka, along with the board. In April 2017, at the height of the feud, Venkatesan was elevated as co-chairman (from independent director), a first for the IT major. Further, the move was then widely seen as a step to end the public spat. “If you got to fly a plane through a storm, it is helpful to have a co-pilot in the cockpit,” he had said then.

At the time of the tussle between the founders and the board, former Infosys CFOs TV Mohandas Pai and V Balakrishnan had repeatedly asked for the complete reconstitution of the board alleging that its members had failed in their corporate governance duties. In April, following the Uday Kotak Committee recommendations on corporate governance, Infosys appointed Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw as the Lead Independent Director of the board, which means that she can represent all independent directors in the board.

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