Chandra Shekar Kakal may not be known widely to the outside world, but at Infosys Technologies, he is the leader of 12,000 people bringing in business worth over $1 billion. But there is a more important reason why this vice president of enterprise solutions must be watched. He is among the handful of future leaders who will shape the new Infosys in the next decade or so. He is one of the faces the world must get used to once the company’s iconic founders bow out in deference to age and change. But Kakal should do just fine. His mentor? Narayana Murthy himself!
Subhash Dhar, Ashok Vemuri, V. Balakrishnan and B.G. Srinivas, all Kakal’s peers, are now coming under the same limelight. These five are among a band of leaders being groomed to take over from the founding team of Murthy, Nandan Nilekani and S. “Kris” Gopalakrishnan.Imagine being asked to lead the Roman Empire after Augustus. Infosys is no ordinary company; its reputation is globally enviable. Its leaders enjoy an iconic status. Inside the company, they virtually have a demi-god status. “They are brands and personalities of their own. It will be extremely difficult for anyone to replace them,” says Sudin Apte, country head of research firm Forrester.As if that wasn’t tough enough, the new leaders would be required to develop their own script for running Infosys. If that means overturning the precepts under which Infosys has been run until now, so be it. This new band of boys is already tweaking the so-called Murthy Doctrine — a financial model that has invariably helped the software giant beat market forecasts over and over again.
The Murthy Doctrine
Under Murthy’s 21-year-long reign as CEO, Infosys built a unique DNA. To this day, the founders share his belief: They would always put the interests of Infosys above their own, the company would be profitable from day one, and they would accommodate each other. So if one of them became the CEO, the others would allow him to bask in the glory but continue to contribute to Infosys and support him from outside. Murthy also plumped for transparency and respect. He ensured Infosys ran a clean and open balance sheet.
“WE MUST PUT COMPANY BEFORE SELF"
The founders want to preserve the company’s DNA even as they prepare to pass the baton to the next generation. Nandan Nilekani and Narayana Murthy share transition plans
(This story appears in the 19 June, 2009 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
Infosys is a Bubble that will burst once the Currency/Labour Arbitrage doesnt exist. Even if the Rupee strengthens by 10 basis point the impact on Infy bottomline would be 25 basis points . <br /> I predict Infosys to be a stale business in 2-5 years time horizon.
on Jun 3, 2010Infosys is a sweat-shop pyramid of people where people at top work the least and are paid the most and people at bottom work the most and are paid the least.
on Jun 3, 2010I'm keen to know how the leadership skills (as propounded in interviews and books) by the Infosys founders are been practiced down the line (say the bottom of the pyramid - a team say at the bottom of the totem pole) in an organisation which is fast becoming highly bureaucratic - because of size? Its like the rain forests where the roots are unable to get any sunshine - not a trickle! The cracks are visible - and Infy is fast dropping down in terms of its ranking in latest Best Place To Work Survey. High sounding fundas are fine - what is the level of SHARED understanding of these approaches within the organisation today? A serious round of organisation-wide introspection appears to be the need for the day... unless Infy reinvents itself these cracks down below are only going to fester and spread. (How many of such PR Exercises - involving premier business publications - actually go and meet the Infy staff at the grassroots level, as that would provide the real feedback..
on Jun 19, 2009Home Grown Hero's ? - please read the annual report to know the years each of the executive directors have been with Infosys.
on Jun 12, 2009Super story! But what is surprising is that Infosys which prides itself on its campus training programs and has a huge campus recruitment drive, does not have a single home-grown hero on its current EC. Did the founders wake up too late for the succession planning exercise? How else would one explain the four lateral recruits on the EC! While the company's GE-like leadership institute initiative is commendable, it probably needs to take its initiative to the grassroots level (i.e. its engineer level) for the company to last well beyond its founders.
on Jun 11, 2009The existentialist dilemma of a giant of the size of Infosys trying to carve a new niche without the tempering of inputs from the founders has been succinctly brought out in a well researched report. Kudos
on Jun 10, 2009Superb story! Forbes India is clear a cut above Indian business magazines. Well done Mitu - take a bow!
on Jun 5, 2009