Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SP)

Bangalore, Apr 30: Rumours are thick about the likely successor to N R Narayana Murthy, founder chairman of Infosys Technologies Ltd, ahead of the crucial meeting of its board on Saturday evening, where successor to founder chairman of the company is expected to be named. Chances of non-executive chairman of the ICICI Bank’s board of directors, K V Kamath, of replacing Murthy, appear to be bright.

Infosys Technologies, under Murthy, has emerged as the second largest software export company of India. Both business circles and share markets are keenly watching the developments. In the company’s history, so far, one of the founders of the company have taken over as the chief executive officers of the company. It will be interesting to know whether the company will follow this tradition. If it follows its tradition, K V Kamath will not be in the race.

Already, a committee headed by independent director of Infosys, Prof Jeffrey Sean Lehman, has been formed for choosing a successor to Murthy. Deepak M Satwalekar, former chairman of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company, and K V Kamath, are the members of this committee. The committee has been entrusted with the task of choosing a new chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), chief operating officer (COO), and chief financial officer (CFO). The recent resignation of Mohandas Pai, who was a member of the board of the company, had brought to the fore the fact that there had been some heartburn relating to the process of choosing a successor. Pai had later commented in an interview that the company’s policy of sticking to its age old traditions, has been harming its prospects.

Once Narayana Murthy retires as the chairman of the company in August this year, CEO, Kris Gopalakrishnan, and COO, S D Shibulal, will be the only founders of the company to remain in the board. If the company chooses to follow its tradition, one of these two, or Nandan Nilekani, who is currently working as the chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India, also a founder of the company, have to take over as chairman. Otherwise, in all probability, K V Kamath, who is also an independent director of the company, may take over charge.