Bengaluru, Jan 2 (IANS) ASoftware veteran Salil S. Parekh, who took over as the CEO and MD of Infosys on Tuesday, said he was excited to lead the IT major on its path of helping clients digitally reinvent themselves.

“I am excited to lead the company on its path of helping clients digitally reinvent themselves for sustained growth,” said Parekh in his maiden address to nearly 2 lakh Infosys techies operating at its development centres the world over.

Admitting that 2018 got off to a great start for him as he began his journey as CEO of an iconic company, he told the Infoscions that each of them had an important role to play in the world of continuous technology disruptions.

Earlier, as Parekh took charge, senior executives, including Chief Operating Officer U.B. Pravin Rao, welcomed and greeted him at the company’s corporate office in the Electronics City on the city’s outskirts.

“Soon after the senior management briefed Parekh about the company’s activities and made a presentation on its current business, he addressed the employees through video-conference,” a company official told IANS.

The Infosys Board on December 2 appointed Parekh, 53, for the top executive post for five years with effect from January 2 to December 31, 2022.

Parekh is the second non-founder executive of the $10-billion firm after the exit of the first non-promoter CEO Vishal Sikka in August following a spat with its co-founders over governance issues last year.

The company, however, has not disclosed details of Parekh’s annual compensation, including perks and stock options, if any, so far.

Prior to joining Infosys, Parekh was an executive board member of the Paris-headquartered global consulting, technology and IT firm Capgemini.

Co-founder and Chairman Nandan Nilekani has told Infoscions in an e-mail that Parekh had years of exemplary experience in various fields and his skills, expertise and leadership qualities were complimentary to the organisation.

“We are hopeful that this combination will be successful and we look forward to partnering with him on this journey,” said Nilekani in the letter mailed on December 29.

Nilekani, 62, returned to Infosys on August 18 on the request of the revamped Board, after then non-executive Chairman R. Seshasayee, co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan and two Directors Jeffery S. Lehman and John Etchemendy resigned.

Nilekani, who was the company’s CEO from March 2002 till April 2007 and its Vice-Chairman, resigned in July 2009 to head the Unique Identification Authority of India as its first Chairman till May 2014, said that when he returned in August, “I knew that the company I had left 8 years back would have changed in many ways”.

Noting that 2017 was a great year with client wins and acquisitions, Nilekani said the company also saw turbulence in leadership and increased public visibility last year, but praised all employees “for focusing on the business and never letting internal developments come in the way of delivering great value to our clients”.

“To me, 2017 was the year of the Infoscion,” he said, adding that they “had started on a transformational journey, but some things remain the same — our values, our commitment to learning and our focus on partnering with clients in a way that is unique to us”.

Reminding the techies that they were at a juncture of transformational technology, he said it was not only software that was changing the world, but also data and algorithms.

“With our knowledge of emerging technology trends, we can be the provider of choice for our clients, helping them on their transformation to emerge as the preferred client partner in all spheres,” he said, advising the techies to reskill as the world valued certain specialised skills in emerging trends.

Nilekani also exhorted Infoscions to keep innovating as there was so much to be gained by going above and beyond expectations of clients by providing transformative solutions in this disruptive era.

–IANS
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