Tough task ahead of Parekh as Infy chief

As Salil Satish Parekh takes over as CEO and MD of India's second largest IT services company Infosys on Tuesday, his job seems to be cut out.

Parekh, the second non-founder full-time CEO of the IT bellwether after Vishal Sikka, will have to ensure continuity in business and establish a smooth channel of communication between the board and the company's founder-promoter group, who own close to 13% stake in the company.

Many domestic institutional investors (DIIs) told DH: "We would want Parekh to spearhead the company without any further controversy in the given scenario."

Parekh was chosen for the top job after an intense global search that lasted three months.

According to DIIs, Parekh would find great acceptability in the IT major as "he is neither as outspoken as Sikka, nor media-averse like Pravin (company's interim CEO and MD, UB Pravin Rao)".

In August 2017, Sikka made an unceremonious exit from the IT major, after a barrage of attacks from the company's promoter group.

The institutional investors, who facilitated Nandan Nilekani's return at the helm of the company, are backing on his organisational skills to facilitate smooth transition of power at the company.

Due to global headwinds in the Trump era, the company might see some changes in its way of quarterly reporting to bring it at par with other IT giants like TCS and Wipro.

Also, Parekh will have to oversee that traction in new services of the company will be continued, in a scenario, where revenues from traditional services are dipping.

Rich experience

Parekh isn't a new figure in the IT industry as he has nearly three decades of experience - as member of the executive committee of Capgemini and as partner in financial service practice for over seven years.

Born in 1964, Parekh is a Gujarati by ethnicity. He completed the Bachelor of Technology degree in aeronautical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (1982-1986) and a Master of Engineering degree in computer science from Cornell University, USA (1986-1988).