Infosys ropes in ex-Capgemini executive Salil S Parekh as its CEO

Infosys has roped in Salil S Parekh as its chief executive officer thus picking an outsider for the job for a second time and handing him the twin challenges of reviving growth and forging peace between its founders and board following a public spat.

Parekh, who was earlier with Capgemini where he was a member of its group executive team, has been given a 5-year term effective Jan. 2.

U.B. Pravin Rao who was serving as the interim CEO has been re-designated as chief operating officer from Jan. 2, Infosys said.

"He (Parekh) has nearly three decades of global experience in the IT services industry," said Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani. "He has a strong track record of executing business turnarounds and managing very successful acquisitions. The board believes that he is the right person to lead Infosys at this transformative time in our industry."

Parekh, who joined Capgemini back in 2000, resigned from the Paris-based company following "recent managerial evolutions" announced in October, Capgemini said in a separate release.

Parekh had been instrumental in expanding Capgemini's India team and had once been seen as a potential successor to Capgemini CEO Paul Hermelin. Parekh's roles at Capgemini included heading the strategic business unit of geographies such as North America, the United Kingdom as well as local business units in India and Australia.

Former CEO Vishal Sikka announced a sudden exit in August after a protracted public spat with the company's founding executives, led by Narayana Murthy, over strategy and alleged corporate governance lapses.

Sikka, who joined from German software maker SAP in 2014, was the first outsider to be made CEO of the Bengaluru-headquartered company.

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