It is easy to like both Mr S Gopalakrishnan and Mr S D Shibulal. Mild and affable, the two have been, respectively, named the Executive Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer & MD of Infosys starting August. Here's a not-yet-on-record profile of the two:

Gopalakrishnan, or Kris as he better known, ensures that he and his family take off for a vacation at least twice a year. The most animated that Business Line saw him was soon after his return from Bhutan a couple of years ago. He was excited about the virgin forests preserved there.

Here's how much “greenery” affects him: Once asked how he invests his money (his and his family wealth has been estimated at $1.6 billion by Forbes ), Kris merely smiled and mumbled, “the usual – mutual funds, etc.” But he was more forthcoming about his passion for a “green” country.

He has bought a significant parcel of forest land in the Western Ghats, which is his responsibility to maintain so as to disallow development resulting in deforestation.

In his stint in the US, Kris learnt to cook, but nowadays, he dons the chef's hat only to make his pizzas, meant solely for his daughter.

Kris, who has a master's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, is said to have earned his stripes selling to clients in Infosys' most profitable region – the US. That speaks for his communications skill. Indeed, for a man who cleared the Indian Institute of Management's entrance but whose communication skills let him down in the interview, Kris has fought his way up.

He returned from the US to take over as Deputy Managing Director in 1994. Later, in 2002, he became the Chief Operating Officer when co-founder Nandan Nilekani took over the CEO baton from N R Narayana Murthy.

Though gentle and unassuming, Kris does have his aggressive streak. A former colleague in Infosys said in 2007 (when the company was said to be in talks to acquire French IT giant CapGemini, which had a significant consulting business) that if it were true, it would happen with heavy backing from Kris, given his soft-corner for consulting. Work-wise, colleagues say that Kris simplifies things so that goals become clearer.

During the economic downturn starting 2008, the investing world was agog with questions about IT firms' profit margins, plummeting manpower utilisation levels and the works. Kris' most common answer to these frenzied queries was: “Once growth returns, all of these will take a back-seat!”

Single-minded focus

His Chief Operating Officer since 2007, Shibulal appears as gentle as Kris. Importantly, he wears his authority lightly. But aggression, as someone said, need not be evident in desk-thumping and chest-beating histrionics. Shibulal, who has a Master's degree in Science from the University of Boston, is said to have a single-minded focus on the job at hand.

At conference calls with analysts or with the media after every quarter's results, his world revolves around operational metrics — pricing improvement, volume growth, clients added and transformational deals.

His work ethic was brought out in today's press conference by his own Chairman, N R Narayana Murthy. Once, while working at Patni Computers, Murthy told Shibulal to finish a piece of work before heading home. To the latter, it was God's word even if it meant staying in office for two nights, working in his lungi (a dress South Indians wear at home).

Coming a few notches below Kris at $1.1 billion in family wealth, Shibulal says it is “very important” for CEOs to remain fit. With very little trace of a paunch, he does not avoid his jog even when travelling.

Shibulal is a well-known gadget freak in Infosys. A Facebook profile tells us that when Mrs Shibulal first entered her marital home in Alleppey, Kerala, her father-in-law, the late C.K. Damodaran, welcomed the young bride with an unusual gift.

He gave her a small, beat-up radio, with a tangle of wires sticking out from its case, and said, “This is what your husband made as a boy.” Turning the dial, he smiled, “Look, it still works!”

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