Newly appointed Infosys Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Salil Parekh said on Friday he will stay connected with the founders so the company stays true to its vision and beliefs, and announced he will outline a new strategy in April.
A smooth relationship with the founders was one of the bones of contention with former Chief Executive Vishal Sikka, which subsequently resulted in him leaving the company.
When asked on how he will manage this equation, Parekh said he will be deeply connected with the founders.
“My hope and expectation would be to be connected with the founders, in the sense of the original people who started the company, and pay respect to them in that line,” he said.
He said Infosys is a phenomenal company started by people who had tremendous vision, and that they created something which will last a very long time.
“Everything I have seen in the company, reconfirms that.” Parekh views the ongoing digital disruption as something that would create new opportunities.
“With around 1,100 clients, the business is growing well, and there’s high cash flow. Coupled with renewed energy and attention, we have an opportunity to build a stronger Infosys,” he said.
Parekh said he is reviewing contracts with clients and looking to engage more with the people, ahead of the new strategy in April.
“The priority, at this minute, is to connect with people and clients.”
Parekh’s appointment came after several months of public spat between the founders and Sikka along with some board members, on issues of corporate governance and transparency.
All this subsequently resulted in Sikka quitting the company, followed by Nandan Nilekani, one of the co-founders, being brought in by foreign institutional investors to take over as Chairman, to steer Infosys, which had lost in excess of ₹25,000 crore in market capital after Sikka’s exit in August 2017.
The comapny’s shares have gained close to 15 per cent in the past three months, outperforming the BSE IT index, which has risen 12.5 per cent.