Murthy passes the Infosys baton to KV Kamath

Banglaore: Signifying the end of an era, Infosys on Saturday decided to appoint KV Kamath as the successor to its current Chairman NR Narayana Murthy. Thirty years from its inception, founder and chief mentor Murthy will step down as Chairman of the Board in August 2011 to give way to Kamath, the current non-executive Chairman of ICICI Bank.

Kamath has been an independent director on the Infosys board since May 2009. It has also been decided that SD Sibulal will be new CEO and MD and S Gopalakrishnan (Kris) will be Executive Co-Chairman of Infosys, while Narayana Murthy will continue as Chairman Emeritus.Apart from Kamath, the other contender for the post of Chairman of the Board was Kris Gopalakrishnan, the current CEO of Infosys, who is both a co-founder and the man responsible for making Infosys one of the top three IT firms in the country. Kris has been elevated as the executive co-chairman.

Sixty three-year-old KV Kamath, a mechanical engineer and an alumni of IIM Ahmedabad, is an independent board member but not an Infosys insider.

Kamath started his career in 1971 at ICICI, an Indian financial institution that founded ICICI Bank. He is also credited for spearheading the expansion of ICICI Bank after privatisation and converting it into India's second largest bank. Kamath retired as MD and CEO of the ICICI Bank in April 2009.

Kamath was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2008. He was also the President of the CII for the year 2008-09.

A walk down the Infosys memory lane

NR Narayan Murthy has every reason to smile as the company he co-founded in 1981 with 6 other middle class mavericks has come a long way. Started in a 10x 10 room with Rs 10,000 this IT behemoth is credited with creating 1000's of millionaires courtesy its stock option schemes. Old timers says Murthy's greatness is his humility.

KV Kamath, Non Exec Chairman, ICICI Bank, said "There was a security guard at the door who opened the door for Murthy. And what Murthy asked him is still in my mind today. He says in Kannada 'utay tho' that is have you had dinner?"

Not just his humility, Murthy's dogged pursuit of good governance standards, has been appreciated and imbibed by many in corporate India.

KM Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group said, "The kind of governance that he stood for. The fact that he's speared the team, he has also stepped down and let the team take over and take the company forward which in itself a very big thing to do."

Those leadership skills are something which his professor, who knew him as a student, says he saw in a young Murthy many years ago.

"I think it's the team building capability and the understanding that he showed right at the beginning of Infosys about having to identify values that they were going to maintain," said J Krishna Iyer, NR Narayan Murthy's professor.

Murthy is stepping down at when the company is seeing a lot of flux, at a time when Mohandas Pai has quit, Nandan is not around and peers are outperforming. But is his employees are not complaining.

Ambitabh Chaudhry, Former CEO, Infosys BPO, said, "No I don't think it is very crowded at the top. Everyone at Infosys has understandably and arguably been there for a couple of years but some of that could change."

However the best tribute to NR Narayan Murthy is given from fellow founder Nandan Nilekani. According to Nilekani, Murthy's name will be right at the top when India's corporate history will be written.

"When the history of Corporate India is written Murthy's name will be right up there," said Nandan Nilekani, former Co-founder, Infosys.

Indicative perhaps of how hard it will be for him to step away from Infosys, Murthy could continue as Chairman emeritus at the company for another couple of years.

KV Kamath appointed chairman of Infosys Technologies

BANGALORE: Infosys Technologies, India's second largest software company, on Saturday named veteran banker and seasoned business transformation manger K V Kamath as its new chairman. Kamath, 63, who is currently a member of Infosys' board of directors, will succeed the company's founder N R Narayana Murthy on August 21.

The nominations committee of the company, which is facing one of the toughest times in its three-decades of existence, also named current chief operating officer S D Shibulal as CEO and MD, while the incumbent CEO, S Gopalakrishnan, was elevated to the post of executive co-chairman. Murthy, who turns 65 in August, will become the chairman emeritus, a non-executive position like Kamath's.

Murthy, along with six fellow software engineers, established Infosys with about $250 in 1981. In the last 30 years, they have made it one of the most respected names in the software outsourcing sector with an annual turnover of about $6.2 billion.

Kamath, the chairman-elect, is also the non-executive chairman of ICICI Bank, and is a renowned name in the corporate world. TOI had earlier reported that Kamath was likely to be named Infosys chairman.

Pleased with his elevation to the top post at Infosys board, Kamath said he felt greatly honoured and added that he would accept this responsibility with a deep sense of humility.

The management changes come after the company missed earnings estimates for the third time in four quarters, unusual for a company known for promising less and achieving more. In its April 15 press conference, the infotech giant also forecast the lowest profit margin since 2003.

With the Nasdaq-listed company facing stiff competition from domestic as well as multinational rivals, its share price has fallen about 15.6% this year. According to analysts, the new structure that the board is putting in place is expected to help it in its next wave of growth, and help reverse the stock price's southward slide.

At the post-announcement conference, Shibulal said the company was planning to build a next generation global services and consulting firm and would focus on strengthening client relationships. Hailing Shibulal, Murthy said the two were known to each other from pre-Infosys days, and as COO of the company he always exceeded the expectations of the board. Every member of the board that I have talked to, every independent member, has nothing but tremendous appreciation for Shibulal's contribution. I am so happy that he will be steering the company in the future, Murthy said.

On Saturday evening, the company also announced that it would drop the word 'Technologies' from its name and will be renamed Infosys Limited. As we are a broad ranged service provider, we have decided to rename the company, subject to all clearances. It is also part of our broad Infosys 3.0 vision, said CEO S Gopalakrishnan.

Head of the nominations committee, Jeff Sean Lehman, who worked with the Infosys board to finalize the new management structure, said the changes reflected continuity. While Kamath brings in a wide range of industry experience as well as expertise in corporate governance, Gopalakrishnan brings an understanding of the organization and its employees, having co-founded it. Lehman said the company had increased the age limit for the chairman's position from 65 to 70 for non-co-founders. However, for co-founders the age limit to remain chairman stands at 65. The company will also name three new directors by June 11.