Bengaluru: Analysts watching the sudden announcement of Dr Vishal Sikka as Infosys’ new CEO, timed just ahead of the company’s AGM on Saturday, were upbeat about the appointment, although cautious about short-term expectations.
“Infosys has taken a gamble in hiring someone who has never been CEO of a large company. But Dr Sikka is future-proofing for Infosys”, said Sudhin Apte, CEO of Offshore Insights, “Technology is evolving and tomorrow’s IT services will be business-led. You need somebody to drive innovation and transformation. But we will have to wait and see about results in the short-term”.
“Dr Sikka is not seen as an Indian executive. Like Vikram Pandit, Indra Nooyi, Satya Nadella, etc., when Sikka goes to global corporations, he is seen as a global leader. He can open doors to CEOs and boardrooms for Infosys”, said Zinnov Consulting’s Sundararaman Vishwanathan.
“Dr Sikka’s appointment tells you that Infosys does not want to be just another outsourcing company. It has bet on a global technology visionary”, said Ankita Somani, research analyst with Mumbai-based MSFT. “Pravin Rao, COO, can take care of Infosys’ bread-and-butter capabilities. If Infosys renews focus on its 3.0 strategy under Dr Sikka, we could see results”.
“Vishal is an outsider, he has youth on his side. He gives Infosys the immediate facelift they were craving”, said Phil Fersht, CEO of US-based HfS Research. “Vishal is a technologist and will be key in driving Infosys’ platforms strategy and a products culture. But Infosys is still primarily a services business. The big vision is easy, executing on it is another ball-game entirely.”
