IT industry hails Parekh's appointment as Infy CEO

The captains of Indian IT industry have hailed the appointment of Salil S Parekh as the new CEO & MD of Infosys.  

The appointment of Parekh is a positive from multiple perspectives. He is well known in the industry so he is well rooted here,  Nasscom President R Chandrasekhar said. He will be a cultural fit within the industry, he said.

Talking to DH,  Chandrasekhar said Parekh has the capability to take the company to next level by addressing new technology challenges.  

"He will be a cultural fit within the industry. I am not talking about the cultural fit to the company. That is the company to decide and I have no comment to that," he said.  

"Parekh knows industry people and it is vice versa. In terms of his cultural traits he knows industry people and how they function," he said.  

Besides heading the Application Services (North America, UK, Asia), Cloud Infrastructure Services, and Sogeti (Technology & Engineering Services Division) of Capgemini, Parekh  was also the Chairman of the company's North America Executive Council and appointed as Deputy CEO of the company in March 2015.

"He is part of a global company Capgemini and it gave him cross cultural experience working with different geographies. Infosys expects him to take the company to next level and Nasscom wishes him all the best," Chanrasekhar said.

Commenting on the appointment, T V Mohandas Pai, former board member of Infosys said, "Good that Infosys has a new CEO. Hopefully, Salil Parekh's appointment will work out better as there is a similar business background."

Parekh's strengths include "people management, strategy, the fact that he knows application services and has handled global services" for Capgemini, said CP Gurnani, chief executive officer of Tech Mahindra Ltd.

He added that it won't be a big issue for Parekh to adapt to Infosys' culture.

The appointment of Salil Parekh is likely to be viewed positively in Infosys' journey to rebuild its business positioning, according to Sanjoy Sen, Doctoral Research Scholar at  Aston Business School, UK.

"It would also be seen by stakeholders as Nilekani, Infosys new Chairman's ability to align rhetoric with reality by delivering to his promise, amid speculation that Infosys may not be able to find the right candidate for many months," Sen said.