Infosys is slowly returning to normalcy after going through a rather turbulent phase during the last few years. Analysts, however, say it will take some time before it starts performing to its potential. In an interview with BusinessLine , the company’s Chief Operating Officer Pravin Rao UB shares the management’s vision for the future.

How do you analyse the performance of Infosys, two quarters after the new CEO took over?

From a client’s perspective, a lot of things have matured. It is reflected in slightly better growth for the industry. Last few years, there was a focus on cost takeout on one side of the business and we were not ready to invest in new areas at the same pace. Now that is changing. In the last year and beginning of this year, projects are maturing and moving from pilot to mainstream. The industry itself will grow faster and there is enough runway for it to grow further (currently $155 billion) in the next 5-10 years.

Do you think the industry itself has changed over the past few years?

Overall, these are interesting times in the industry with a lot of disruptions, new business and operating models. It is a great opportunity but the Indian industry needs to reinvent itself. The next few years will be much more radical than the past. So, re-skilling is a big thing for the industry with new technologies and services that will drive the future. We have changed training methodologies and provided options such as allowing an employee to access it anytime, anywhere, online or offline.

Some analysts have said that Infosys is just getting its act together when it should actually be accelerating...

We have still some engines which are not firing. Issues were there with our consulting business. Now that is improving and it will take some more time to do so. Digital is firing well with 28 per cent of our revenues coming from that segment. In the last two quarters, we have articulated what digital means to all our stakeholders.

After Salil Parekh took over as CEO, he unveiled a new strategy for the company. Was that done to make a clean break from the past?

See, the strategy is evolutionary. I would not call it a radically different strategy but a continuation of what we do. Some course corrections were made and tweaks done to identify the path for the next 2-3 years. There was a perception created that we were not doing much work on digital. If you see the 28 per cent revenues coming from digital, it did not happen overnight. In the new thinking, we decided that Panaya and Skava (two companies which were acquired during Sikka’s time) were not strategic for us. It is not that they are bad products. We decided that we do not need to own those products to drive our digital push. We intend to sell licences of Panaya and Skava. Even in the last quarter, we did so. On the other hand, we have said that Finacle and Nia continue to be strategic for us. It is a subtle shift in the strategic direction and not a radical one.

So, when Panaya was acquired, was there less visibility about how it might eventually pan out for the company?

There was a lot more expectations on leveraging Panaya software for our enterprise clients. But with the migration to cloud, there was a slowdown where people were focussing on newer tech. What we expected in the beginning and the roadmap for the future was not in alignment. It is more about strategic thinking. We don’t have to own it. We can continue to licence it. Even if our competition is using it, it should not make too much of a difference. Skava, on the other hand, helped us in our digital footprint. It was used in mobility and space and now in the last three years it has morphed into a full-fledged e-commerce platform and competes with the likes of Hybris (a subsidiary of SAP) and others.

It was right at that time of acquisition but now there are other strategic priorities. There was nothing wrong with the product or the strategy at that time. But now the realisation is that there are other strategic priorities where we need to focus on and which are much more in line with our DNA. So we can continue to leverage them in a different form rather than from an ownership perspective.

Instead of selling the companies at a discount, wouldn’t it have been better to keep them? Are there any bidders for Panaya?

Finally, it is the market which determines the value. We felt that instead of making continuous investments and there has to be x amount of management bandwidth we have to devote to and therefore, it was better to not own it. There have been some conversations with certain people regarding its sale and we will announce it when they get finalised.

One can see that the gap between the leader of the pack and Infosys is growing wider. What do you attribute that to?

Five or six years back, there were two leaders and then the rest of us were fairly well behind. Since then, I think we did remarkably well. About two, three years back, we were number one or two growing at 12-13 per cent. But with the beginning of the year, our competitor has grown dramatically. It is only in the recent past, the gap has widened. It is a cycle and they have executed their strategy well. So, we have to focus on our strengths and grow from there.

You have been with the company for a long time. How did you feel when the company went through a lot of turbulence?

I joined the company when there were less than 50 people, which were about 32 years ago. I don’t think I would have even dreamed of the growth the company ended up having and the position it has attained. I am really proud of being part of an iconic brand and being part of this journey.

What we have experienced during the last few years is the evolution of a company which is transiting to the next stage. We are moving to a new set of leadership and it takes time to settle down.

It is the resilience of the organisation that it has managed to withstand all the noise and distractions.

Something which could have been avoided?

I would rather attribute it to learning. It is a growing organisation and you learn...and hopefully, we will be growing to be a hundred-year-old company. We have just completed one-third of the journey.

Hopefully, we won’t make the same mistakes again. Today, we have the ability to take more risks, some will work and some won’t. I think the big takeaway is that the organisation has been resilient and one should give credit to those who built this company to such an extent that it has been able to withstand the shocks and distractions and still has been able to come out of it. We have hardly had any client attritions during those years.

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