Infosys witnesses another big exit, with Chandrashekar Kakal’s exodus

Bangalore: Infosys senior vice president Chandrashekar Kakal today became the ninth high-ranking executive to have quit India’s second largest outsourcer since its co-founder NR Narayana Murthy returned from retirement in June 2013. The resignation comes days ahead of Infosys fourth quarter earnings announcement on April 15.

Mr. Kakal, a member of Infosys’ top decision making body, headed the India Business Unit and was also responsible for application development, maintenance, testing, and infrastructure management verticals at Infosys.

The resignation of Mr. Kakal should not surprise markets as it was only last week Mr. Murthy had cautioned about the likelihood of more exits from Infosys.

“Over the next few months, you will see some more exits because current CEO SD Shibulal will retire after he complete 60 in March 2015,” Mr. Murthy had told analysts at an investors meeting organized by Barclays last week.

The series of exits over the last nine months at Infosys has often been linked to the battle for the chief executive’s chair. Infosys is likely to get a non-founder boss for the first time after Mr. Shibulal retires.

Ambit Capital analyst Ankur Rudra said last year that senior leaders at Infosys do not see a clear strategic direction, and that the firm struggles to find its feet in terms of what it wants to do in strategy.

However, Mr. Murthy held that exits have not hampered Infosys.

“Barring a few exceptions, most people that left us were not adding critical value to the company,” Mr. Murthy said last week.

Infosys has beaten Street expectations in two successive quarters since Mr. Murthy’s return. Its shares are up 37 per cent since June last year.

On the NYSE, Infosys ADR (American Depository Receipt) traded 0.5 per cent higher at $54.11 as of 8.00 p.m. IST.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange, Infosys ended 1 per cent higher at Rs. 3,303 today, underperforming the BSE IT index which gained 1.7 per cent.