Was tipped as a probable to occupy the top seat in Infosys after Kris.
Within two weeks of India’s second-largest information technology (IT) services provider, Infosys Technologies, announcing its Rs 180-crore second acquisition in the business process outsourcing (BPO) space, the driver of this deal — Infosys BPO Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Amitabh Chaudhry — has put in his papers. He is serving a three-month notice period. Infosys BPO has a turnover of Rs 1,450 crore and nearly 16,500 employees.
Chaudhry, tipped as one of the probables to occupy the top seat in Infosys after Kris Gopalakrishnan, is understood to be joining HDFC Standard Life Insurance “at a bigger position”, though the exact nature of this position is to be ascertained. HDFC Standard Life is a joint venture between HDFC and UK-based Standard Life.
Chaudhry could not be asked for a comment.
Chaudhry holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, and an MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad. He has been with financial institutions prior to joining Infosys. He was with Credit Lyonnais Securities in Singapore as head of the investment banking franchise for South East Asia and the structured finance practice for Asia.
On being asked to comment, T V Mohandas Pai, head of HR and administration, and a member of the Infosys Board, said he was not in a position to do so. However, highly-placed sources confirmed the development, saying Chaudhry is working towards ensuring a smooth transition during his notice period.
Chaudhry was hand-picked by then Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani, and joined Infosys BPO (then Progeon) in 2003 as the head of transition. In April 2005, he was promoted to the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO). With the exit of then Infosys BPO head Akshaya Bhargava, he was appointed CEO in March 2006.
“We are seeing that people whose backgrounds are more aligned to core financial services, like investment banking or insurance, generally tend to tire at a certain point of time. The exits of the last two CEOs of Infosys BPOs are a testimony to that. Chaudhry must have found it more attractive to join the insurance industry, which is an emerging as well as a core sector,” says an analyst who tracks the BPO space quite closely.
Infosys, meanwhile, is understood to have started the hunt for a person within the company to replace Chaudhry.
“I don’t think he has any hard feelings against the company. He most probably thinks he will get a bigger platform in the company where he will be joining now,” a source adds.
Industry watchers say Chaudhry, who “is by nature highly ambitious, had successfully led the company’s growth, especially during the recent global slowdown by successfully convincing clients to stay in, and introducing changes within the company to make it a more technology-driven organisation from the pure back-office service provider”.
Chaudhry had recently announced that the back-office unit of Infosys would hire 1,500-2,000 people by the end of the current financial year.
