Infosys appoints Salil Parekh as CEO and MD

Mumbai: IT bellwether Infosys has appointed Salil S. Parekh as its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director with effect from January 2, 2018 for a five-year term, a regulatory filing by the company said here on Saturday. "We are delighted to have Salil joining as the CEO and MD of Infosys. He has nearly three decades of global experience in the IT services industry. He has a strong track record of executing business turnarounds and managing very successful acquisitions," said Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Infosys. Parekh will be joining Infosys from Capgemini, where he was the member of the Group Executive Board. The company said U.B. Pravin Rao will step down as interim CEO and MD effective January 2, 2018 and will continue as Chief Operating Officer and a whole-time Director of the company. The software major's full-time CEO post has been vacant ever since Vishal Sikka resigned on August 18, stating that he could not continue to work amid "malicious personal attacks". The company's Board had then blamed its founder N.R. Narayana Murthy for Sikka's dramatic resignation. The co-founder of the company Nilekani returned as non-executive Chairman with an aim of finding a CEO for the company, reconstituting its Board and stabilising its business. In a statement on Saturday, Capgemini announced that Parekh would be leaving the company's Board from January 1, 2018. "I would like to thank Salil for his involvement in the Capgemini journey. Salil contributed in particular to the development of the group in India and in the US," Capgemini's Chairman and CEO Paul Hermelin said in the statement. Like Infosys, Capgemini is also a global consulting, technology and IT outsourcing firm headquartered in Paris, France.