On Infosys’ journey

Our founders took the road less travelled, as the saying goes.

They not only shared the company’s profits with the employees through the stock option scheme but also laid out strict norms of corporate governance.

Being ethical was important. They built a sense of camaraderie among employees, but more than anything else, the co-founders followed the path they had set for themselves and the employees.

On our website, there is a quote from our co-founder and the company’s first Chairman NR Narayana Murthy, who said: good corporate governance is about maximising shareholder value on a sustainable basis while ensuring fairness to all stakeholders: customers, vendor-partners, investors, employees, government and society.

On the company’s evolution over the years.

From working from a small house to having multiple offices across the world… it’s no small achievement. Infosys was started with a capital of $250.

Today, its market capitalisation is $41 billion and revenues are $12.77 billion (Q1FY21). From a team of seven founders, Infosys now has 2.39 lakh employees.

The company pioneered the global delivery model and became the first Indian IT company to be listed on Nasdaq. Its employee stock option scheme created the first salaried millionaires.

Today, it is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. As it says, on our website, its regulatory disclosures are way beyond the laid-out norms.

On the challenges ahead

The pandemic has brought in new challenges not only for Infosys but for the entire industry. Clients are looking to build resiliency in their operations, improve efficiency and cut costs. There is a growing acceptance that the pace of digitisation must accelerate.

There is a weakness in spending, especially in the area of discretionary spends, as clients continue to focus on preserving cash and maintaining liquidity. All this translates into a deal pipeline that is robust, with the focus on cost take-out, digital transformation, captive takeover and vendor consolidation. We are prepared to face challenges and our Q1 results show that we are on that path already. We have also restarted giving out guidance for the whole year.

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