Infosys on Friday said there will be no roll back of the strategic direction of the company which has now become institutionalised and the board is fully committed to it.
“What I want to affirm, is that, regardless of all these changes there is going to be no change in the strategic direction of the company. The path that we have been on for three years, has got traction, has become institutionalised and is no longer fragile. The management has bought into it, the Board is fully committed to this so, the message I want to leave behind, is one of continuity and stability,” Infosys co-chairman, Ravi Venkatesan told a press conference here.
Speaking to the media from Palo Alto, California, the outgoing CEO and MD, Vishal Sikka said, he decided to quit after being besieged by false, baseless, malicious and intensely personal attacks which were investigated until it got to a point where it became difficult to deal with the continuous allegations and noise around the same things over and over again. He was referring to the severance package offered to Rajiv Bansal who quit as CFO and the Panaya acquisition deal.
A visibly sad and downcast Sikka said: “The day has been like a blur and in many ways a sad day, however I also hope my decision will help clarify and improve things. At some point I realised that these allegations and repeated investigations are taking a heavy toll on the organisation and a heavy toll on me personally.”
Asked about whether the company will defer its share buyback proposal, Sikka said: “Business will continue as usual. Two days ago our team has received the approvals for the share buybacks and the Board will get together on Saturday and work on that.” Infosys Chairman R Seshasayee, who also addressed the media from Palo Alto along with Sikka said, “We have made a commitment as to how much and when we will return cash to the shareholders, there will be no change in our buyback plans at all. In fact, none of the things that have been set in motion will be stopped or changed.”
Meanwhile the Board has also tasked the Chairman of the Nominations and Remunerations Committee to start the search immediately for an appropriate successor to Sikka and have been asked to consider candidates both internally and externally.