Nandan Nilekani chairs first board meeting; reiterates to bring stability in Infosys

IT major Infosys on Friday held a meeting with its Board of Directors with the newly appointed chairman Nandan Nilekani in attendance.

Reporting on the decisions taken, Nilekani said, "I am extremely excited about the future of Infosys. The Board is focused on bringing complete stability to the Company. It has also tasked its Committee of Directors to work with the CEO and management to review and refresh the Company's strategy by October."

In recent days, there has been considerable discussion of the relationship between the Board of Directors of Infosys Limited and N. R. Narayana Murthy who established the culture and ethos of Infosys, especially its culture of adhering to high corporate governance standards.

The Board believes it to be unfortunate that various differences of opinion have arisen between Murthy and the Board in the recent past.

The company has previously authorized investigations into allegations made by anonymous persons regarding the conduct of prior management, and each of these investigations concluded that there was no wrongdoing.

While the Board and the company are focused on the future, consistent with the Company's commitment to good governance, the new Chairman will get a full briefing on these investigations and the appropriate course of action will be decided.

As the Board has stated on numerous occasions, it takes the company's reputation for high corporate governance standards with the utmost seriousness. Hence, it has, as previously disclosed, decided that it will engage in further broad-based shareholder consultations to determine what further, if any, the Company can take to ensure that it continues to adhere to high governance standards.

The Board has also approved the appointment of the executive recruitment firm Egon Zehnder to work with its Nominations and Remunerations Committee to review and identify the right candidate to be the Company's next CEO and MD.

Additionally, the Nominations and Remunerations Committee will deliberate on the long-term governance structure of the Board and present its recommendations at the meeting of the Board in October.

The Board announced that D N Prahlad is appointed as the Chairman of EdgeVerve Limited with immediate effect.

Finally, the Board would like to state that it is firmly focused on ensuring that the affairs of the Company and the interests of all its stakeholders - its customers, employees, shareholders, officers and directors - are harmoniously aligned and enhanced.

Earlier on Thursday, Infosys announced appointment of Nandan Nilekani as the Non Executive Chairman of the Board, after unanimous approval of the Board of Directors, Nilekani was announced as the new chief to manage the company in the future.

An iconic leader, Nilekani is a successful entrepreneur and investor, and someone who has played a pivotal role in India's transition to a digital economy.

"I am happy to return to Infosys, now in the role of non-executive chairman, and look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board and in executive management on the business opportunities we see before us and delivering benefits to our clients, shareholders, employees and communities. I thank Vishal for his service as the CEO of Infosys over the last 3 years and wish him well in his future endeavors," said Nilekani on his appointment.