I was completely wrong in not allowing next gen at Infosys: NR Narayana Murthy

“I was depriving this organisation of legitimate talent, so I take back whatever I said,” he said in response to ET’s query on succession planning at the company. “The reason is, at that point of time, probably, I embraced (that) idea because I was afraid that some people may bring undeserving candidates and put them in positions and I wanted the future of the organisation to be strong.”

Murthy was speaking at the Infosys 40 year anniversary celebrations in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

“We should not practice reverse discrimination also,” added non-executive chairman Nandan Nilekani on rule about keeping the next generation out.
A candidate must not worry about their nationality or heritage or whose children they are as long as they have the best competence for the position, Murthy said. “But you have to put in (place) the proper process of maturing in the organisation before being given a suitable position or suitable responsibility.”

Nilekani said the “biggest thing” on his mind is having a succession plan for Infosys, including a replacement for himself.

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“I’ll be handing over the chairmanship role to a non-promoter whenever I exit from the same… so there is no Plan B (if it doesn’t work out),” he said. “I have to make sure that when I exit the scene, I implement his (Murthy’s) vision of putting in place the leadership structure, people and the right values to take it forward.”

Nilekani said he will remain chairman “as long as required” but he’s certainly not looking at being around till the 50th anniversary of the company. The company will focus on three Rs–relevance, responsiveness and resilience–to remain one of the dominant players in the industry.

“I’m sort of energised by the opportunity that Infosys has. It is for us to lose… we have to make it happen… digital transformation is here to stay,” co-founder Nilekani said in response to a question on the outlook for demand. “A company which is able to both get business transformation articulated and executed at the same time is going to win this game and I think there’s no better company than Infosys in the world to deal with that.”

Infosys cofounders S (Kris) Gopalakrishnan, K Dinesh and SD Shibulal were also present at the event along with current CEO Salil Parekh.

India’s second largest IT exporter was founded in 1981 by seven engineers in Pune–Murthy, Nilekani, Gopalakrishnan, Dinesh, Shibulal and NS Raghavan and Ashok Arora–with an initial capital of $250. The company shifted its corporate headquarters to Bengaluru after two years. It was one of the first IT companies to list on the Indian bourses in 1993 and the first to list on the Nasdaq in 1999. It crossed $100 million in revenue the same year. For the financial year ended March, Infosys clocked revenue of $16.3 billion. Infosys created a name for itself for creating wealth for not just its stakeholders but also its employees through stock options. The company’s founders also made a pact not to have any family members as successors in the company’s management.

Murthy served as the company’s CEO for around 20 years, starting from its inception. In 2002, Nilekani was appointed the CEO with Murthy named as chairman and chief mentor. He handed the chairmanship role to KV Kamath in 2011. Murthy returned in 2013 as executive chairman of the board with son Rohan Murty joining him as executive assistant. Murthy’s return came at a time when Infosys, which once held the industry bellwether tag, was performing below the industry’s growth average, facing the wrath of investors and shareholders. India’s information technology industry was projected to grow by about 13% in 2012-13, according to Nasscom. Infosys had forecast that its 11-12% revenue growth for the same period.