Zee Media Bureau/Reema Sharma
New Delhi: Infosys new chief executive officer (CEO) Vishal Sikka on Thursday said that it is a matter of tremendous pride and honour to be the leader of an iconic company.
He said that he is very happy and humbled to take on the responsibility as the new CEO of the nation's second-largest software services exporter.
Sikka said that he was always amazed at how Infosys always put emphasis on education and learning.
“Like Narayana Murthy I am also the son of a teacher. My mother was a teacher in Rajkot, Gujarat and father was an engineer in the Indian Railways,” he said.
Hailing Infosys for putting India on the global digital map, Sikka said, “The unique opportunity I see is that the world around us is becoming completely transformed by computing and digital technology. In my view it is once in a lifetime opportunity to help in transformation of the world software technology. Every company and industry is going through this transformation.”
He said that it is indeed a great honour to be a part of the company which is trying to aid in bringing new kind of innovation, capability and transformation.
He also appreciated the company for its deep hand understanding on value, learning and learnablity.
“To me there is no doubt that an incredible journey is in front of us. With fellow Infocians we can take Infosys to an incredible height”, he said.
Welcoming Sikka to the company, Infosys Executive Chairman N R Narayana Murthy said, "I am honoured and pleased that Vishal has agreed to join Infosys as CEO. His illustrious track record makes him an ideal choice for the CEO's post at Infosys."
Murthy also thanked investors, clients, his colleagues, members of his office, the CFO and head of HR for their fabulous support during his second innings at Infosys.
Infosys independent Director KV Kamat said that Infosys board followed a very transparent process in selection of the new CEO.
“The board ended the process to select the CEO in less than two months. We needed somebody who was very strong. The board had shortlisted four candidates for the CEO's post,” he said.
Kamat ended his speech by welcoming the new team headed by Vishal Sikka and new COO Pravin Rao to lead this new team at Infosys.
Infosys on Thursday named former SAP executive board member Vishal Sikka as its new chief executive officer, the first time the nation's second-largest software services exporter will have a non-founder as CEO.
Sikka, 47, will replace S D Shibulal, one of the seven engineers who founded Infosys in 1981, from August 1, Infosys said in a statement.
Also, the firm's Executive Chairman N R Narayana Murthy and Executive Vice Chairman S Gopalakrishnan will step down on June 14. Murthy will be designated as chairman emeritus from October 11.
Infosys has also elevated UB Pravin Rao, President and whole-time director, as Chief Operating Officer, with effect from June 14.
Sikka, who will also be the company's MD, quit SAP in May. He comes in at a time when Infosys has had four straight years of narrowing margins. Besides, almost a dozen senior executives have left since last year when co-founder Murthy returned as chairman.
Murthy brought his son Rohan as his executive assistant.
Infosys said the chairman's office would be dissolved and Rohan would leave the company on Saturday, when the company will hold its annual shareholders meeting in Bangalore.
A Stanford University computer science Ph.D graduate, Sikka oversaw the development of new products, including a platform for quickly analysing large databases as the chief technology officer at SAP, the world's largest maker of business-management software.
