Infosys CEO Salil Parekh’s pay falls 21% to Rs 56.4 crore in FY23

The difference was because of lower stock options exercised compared to last year. Parekh’s compensation included Rs 30.6 crore in stock options as he exercised 1,24,783 stock units under the 2015 stock option plan and 73,962 units under the 2019 plan during the last fiscal. The pay also included Rs. 18.73 crore in variable pay and Rs 45 lakh in retiral benefits.

He took home Rs 71 crore in the previous year ending 2022 which included Rs 52.33 crore worth of stock options exercised.

This compares with his Wipro counterpart Thierry Delaporte whose compensation fell 5% year on year in dollar terms to $10 million (or Rs 83 crore) in FY23, according to the filings with US SEC reported last week. Chairman Rishad Premji’s compensation too in dollar terms halved to $951,353 compared to last year.

Nandan Nilekani, executive chairman and non-independent director, did not draw any remuneration for the year. Chief Financial Officer Nilanjan Roy’s compensation jumped 28% to Rs 10.61 crore. Mohit Joshi, who stepped down as a president in March, was paid Rs 57.3 crore. He has been appointed as CEO designate of Tech Mahindra.

Nilekani said in his message to the shareholders that if there is one overriding theme that defines our current world, it is that “it is suffused with uncertainty”.

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“The cocktail of inflation, interest rates, geopolitics, war, demand volatility, supply chain dislocations, the shift from efficiency to resilience and security, all stirring quickly and without warning, is what’s before us. In any week, we may oscillate from caution to optimism and back to caution based on the news of the day,” chairman of the IT major said in the letter. He also lauded CEO Parekh and his global leadership team, for realising the value of advanced digital technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud, and more recently, generative AI early.

The IT industry veteran also mentioned the demerits and limitations of disruptive technology. The problems of AI hallucination, systemic biases, lack of explainability along with plenty of practical, ethical and intellectual property-related issues “remain open and up for debate”, he said.

Parekh, in his letter to the shareholders, said in the past few quarters, the global economy is dealing with factors such as inflation, interest rate increases,and changes in demand environment for companies in various industries. “Our strength in digital, cloud, and in automation, along with cost efficiency capabilities have held us in good stead. These will continue to be critical in the evolving economic environment,” he added.