Vishal Sikka made an impression during his very first meeting with NR Narayana Murthy, Infosys’ Executive Chairman.

Murthy asked Sikka to solve a complex mathematical puzzle, something he had asked others to do as well, in the past. The former SAP AG board member solved the puzzle in minutes, leaving Murthy dumbfounded.

“I must admit that I had an unfair advantage over all the others as I had built an in-memory database. Mr Murthy recalled asking the same question to generations of Infoscions before me and he also remembered the amount of time it used to take them to answer it,” he recalled during the press conference to announce his appointment as the Infosys CEO.

Sikka, who was a member of the Executive Board of SAP AG until May 4 and Chief Technology Officer leading all products and innovations globally, was shortlisted for the Infy CEO position along with three others and finally selected.

He will continue to be based in California with his family in his new role and shuttle between Bangalore and California.

Born in Madhya Pradesh to Punjabi parents, Sikka, whose mother was a teacher and father a railway engineer, was raised in Vadodara, Gujarat.

PhD from Stanford He was the natural choice for the top post in Infosys not only because of the Board’s bias for a transformational leader, but also for his impeccable educational qualifications — he is a PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University.

After passing out of Rosary High School, Sikka studied computer engineering at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda and completed his MS in Computer Science at Syracuse University. Armed with a PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University, he had a brief stint with Xerox’s research labs. Sikka also founded iBrain, which was acquired.

His second start-up, Bodha.com, was acquired by Peregrine Systems, where he served as VP for Platform Technologies. Sikka joined SAP in 2002, heading the advanced technology group. He was later promoted to Chief Software Architect.

In 2007, he was named SAP’s Chief Technology Officer. After Leo Apotheker’s resignation from the executive Board in 2010, Sikka was named to a newly reconstituted Board along with co-CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe. He created HANA, the German company’s flagship data analytics product, which was very well received by customers and raked in huge revenues for the company. However, his being an American citizen went against him in his climb to the top position at SAP AG.

The culture of learning at Infosys is one of the reasons, Sikka said, that made him accept the offer of becoming CEO & MD of the company.

Once in a lifetime job The other reason, he said, was the once-in-a-lifetime chance of leading an iconic company created by pioneers who provide unique software services and solutions to the world’s best companies.

“My No. 1 priority as CEO of Infosys is to learn — learn about our company, every aspect of the business; and to work with fellow Infoscions and clients. I also intend to take some classes at the Infosys University in Mysore,” said Sikka.

In a lighter vein, alluding to his name, Murthy said: “I asked Vishal what Sikka means and he said it means money. Vishal Sikka means big money and I think we need that in Infosys now.”

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