Clamour for Nandan Nilekani to be back as Infy CEO - Economic Times

BANGALORE: Nandan Nilekani may have lost to BJP's Ananth Kumar from Bangalore South, but if he were to contest for the job of Infosys CEO, Nilekani will have support from the unlikeliest of quarters — ex-Infy director V Balakrishnan, who joined rival Aam Aadmi Party, and former Infosys HR head Mohandas Pai. A day after one of Infosys' two presidents, BG Srinivas, resigned, former board members and senior industry executives have begun to openly endorse Nilekani for the top job in the company.

The endorsement for Nilekani comes even as the Bangalore-based software company evaluates both internal and external candidates as part of the CEO selection process. "I think Nandan has a moral obligation to come back to Infosys because he founded the company and helped it grow," said Pai, also a former chief financial officer and director of Infosys. He resigned in 2011 to join Manipal Education Group as chairman. Pai said Infosys' biggest challenge has been its inability to grow sales and the company needs someone like Nilekani who can connect with large customers. "Nandan can come and stay for two years, it doesn't matter. He will bring stability."

A graduate of IIT-Bombay, Nilekani, 58, co-founded Infosys in 1981 with six others, including NR Narayana Murthy and Kris Gopalakrishnan, and was the CEO between 2002 and 2007. During his tenure, Infosys' sales grew nearly 40 per cent compared with the 2011-2014 period when revenues rose 20 per cent under CEO SD Shibulal.

Balakrishnan was of the opinion that he does not see anyone other than Nilekani being able to handle Infosys as CEO at this stage. But the only way Nilekani would return is if Murthy makes an "emotional pitch" to him, he said. "Nandan does not have a political future for another 10 years at least. So he should get back to Infosys," Balakrishnan remarked. But sources close to the former Unique Identification Authority of India chairman, who joined Congress earlier this year, said Nilekani has no plan to go back to corporate life.

"There was growing clamour to bring Nandan back even when Murthy returned to Infosys last year. But that wasn't his plan," said a source. Nilekani did not reply to an email and text message seeking his comment.

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