Murthy to step down, Sikka new Infosys CEO

Bangalore, June 12: Indian IT bellwether

Thursday announced that Vishal Sikka would be its new chief executive officer and managing director from Aug 1, said a statement here.

In a dramatic development two days ahead of the $8.25-billion company's 33rd annual general meeting here Saturday, co-founder and executive chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy and executive vice-chairman S. Gopalakrishnan will step down June 14 to facilitate the transition smoothly, the global software major said in the statement.

N R Narayana Murthy and S Gopalakrishnan, who are the company founders of Infosys have stepped down from their positions as executive chairman and executive vice-chairman on June 14 and named IT major Infosys named Vishal Sikka, who was the former executive member board member SAP AG.

A doctorate in computer science from Stanford, will be taking over from incumbent S.D Shibulal. However, both the co-founders will continue to be on board to supervise the smooth transition till October 10 in non-executive roles, after which Mr Murthy will be Chairman Emeritus.

This brought an end to the rumours about Narayanmurthy's son, Rohan Murthy's larger role in Infosys, the company announced that his appointment was co-terminus and he will exit the company on June 14.

The hunt for a CEO went on for about 2 months. However on April 12, the IT giant had indicated that Shibulal may step down before his official retirement date in March 2015. Now, Mr Shibulal and Srinath Batni will be stepping down from the board on July 31. Infosys has also indicated a full management revamp and has said that close to 12 people have been elevated to executive vice-president role, according to The Hindu.

IANS/OneIndia News