Infosys Technologies on Saturday announced the appointment of veteran banker Mr Kundapur Vaman Kamath as the new Chairman of the Board. He succeeds Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy who has been made Chairman Emeritus for life.
The current CEO and Managing Director, Mr S. ‘Kris' Gopalakrishnan, will be the co-chairman, while the Chief Operating Officer, Mr S. Dinesh Shibulal, will take over as CEO and MD when the company's financial performance has been trailing market estimates. The board, however, did not name the successor to Mr Shibulal. The name of Infosys Technologies has also been changed to Infosys Ltd to reflect the diverse nature of its business, from consulting to technology.
The names of Mr Murthy, Mr Kamath as well as Mr Gopalakrishnan and Mr Shibulal were suggested by the nominations committee headed by the board member Mr Jeffery S. Lehman. Mr Lehman said the committee's task was to help frame the crucial transitional phase from the Murthy era to an era post founders. “…to ensure to many stakeholders that this historic commitment to excellence, discipline and performance which has been the hallmark of Infosys, a $6 billion company, does not dissipate on August 21 (the day Mr Murthy demits office),” he said.
Ending months of speculation and suspense to announce the appointment of Mr Kamath, who was earlier chairman of ICICI Bank, Mr Murthy said he has known the banker since he (Mr Murthy) was a student at IIM-Ahmedabad. “We all knew him as the tall Vamana then. He was physically and metaphorically tall in every sense of the term,” Mr Murthy said.
Terming Mr Gopalakrishnan as a gentleman's gentleman, Mr Murthy said he had steered the company's fortunes during the turbulent times and during the recession while almost every independent member of the board had tremendous appreciation for Mr Shibulal's work as the COO.
Mr Kamath, 63, who is also an Infosys board member and the non-executive chairman of ICICI Bank, will take over his new responsibilities from August 21, a day after Mr Murthy demits office upon attaining the age of 65. The board has also decided to increase the age of the chairman from 65 to 70, though the founders will retire at 65.
Accepting the new role, Mr Kamath said he wants to make it extremely clear that no one can replace Mr Murthy. “One can be a chair of the board, but one cannot be Mr Murthy,” he said. He said he has earmarked 30 days a year for Infosys.