Bengaluru: Infosys’ clearly-shaken top brass attempted to tamp down alarm that the IT bellwether was in freefall on Friday when it paraded before the media its top guns, who admitted that it would be a tough call to find a replacement for Vishal Sikka.
Mr Sikka, 50, former German IT major SAP executive stepped down as CEO on Friday after a letter written by founder and former chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy went public.
Insiders close to the development said the leaked letter that says Mr Murthy had been told by Infosys independent directors that Mr Sikka was more suited as a CTO than CEO, was the final straw.
Asked about the letter, Mr Venkatesan described it as “privileged conversations and if you take a remark out of context they can appear to be quite problematic.”
He also said that the board has no intention in inviting Murthy to have a role for the governance of the company.
Infosys chairman R.N. Seshasayee, speaking th-rough video-conference, firmly squashed speculation of divisions among board members. “Possibly there could be 2-3 people not in alignment with the board. We don’t see it as a division.”
Commenting on Mr. Murthy’s recent statement about the deteriorating standards of corporate governance, he said, “The origin of this allegation surrounds the acquisition. It is the job of the board to enquire and make sure that there is no misdeed. This is precisely what the board did. Three times! Every time the anonymous nobody has said that we have evidence that we have overlooked. We have had one accusation and investigations after another, where we found nothing. Those who are not part of the board are given responsibility to appoint the investigation agency. So the independence of the investigation agency is crucial. To suggest that these firms will connive with the board, not once but thrice and put it under the carpet, is inconceivable.”
The Board members made it clear that they did not want to wage war. “It is not a battle. What Murthy will do, I don’t know. We will continue to do our job and continue working with them… we will figure out what it is it that they want, both large and small from us. If they want a different board, we will be open to do that,” he said, adding that they have no plans to sue Mr Murthy.
