)
Stephen Pratt, Infosys executive council member and head of utilities and resources for North America, has resigned from the company. According to sources close to the development, Pratt wants to start his own venture.
Pratt's resignation would be effective January 31, Infosys said in a regulatory filing.
"Stephen has been an integral part of Infosys since 2004 and has played a key role in strengthening the company's consulting practice. We would like to thank him for his contributions to Infosys and wish him the very best," Infosys said. It added Alexandre Elvis Rodrigues, currently regional head (energy and services), Americas, will take over from Pratt.
Infosys has been undergoing an organisational overhaul since the return of N R Narayana Murthy as executive chairman in June. As part of this, Pratt was moved to his recent responsibility in September, before which he was heading the consulting business. Pratt had co-founded Infosys Consulting in 2004 and as the leader of consulting and systems integration, he created a "$2-billion, 30,000-person organisation", says Infosys' website.
Pratt's resignation comes within two months after the exit of Infosys' head of Americas and global manufacturing vertical, Ashok Vemuri, who moved to join rival iGate. Vemuri, who was also a member of the company's executive council like Pratt, was seen as one of the top contenders for the CEO's post - the other two being B G Srinivas and V. Balakrishnan.
The IT giant has seen several other senior-level exits since Murthy's return, including those of sales head Basab Pradhan and North America chief for financial services Sudhir Chaturvedi.
Despite the slew of exits from the company, analysts remain optimistic about Infosys.
