While all the talk about the search for Infosys’ next CEO seems centred around an external candidate, no one is yet ruling out the possibility of an internal top executive being chosen for the top job. Egon Zehnder and Development Dimensions International (DDI), the two agencies roped in to search for SD Shibulal’s replacement, are expected to draw up a list of candidates and place it before the nominations committee only in July, if not later.
?Infosys would probably go with an internal candidate for the new CEO, as the company and the board would be more comfortable with such a choice,? according to a person familiar with the developments within Infosys. During the time when Infosys had elevated Shibulal as the CEO in 2011, the Board did debate on the choice of having an outsider as CEO but later overwhelmingly supported an internal candidate. ?I would say this time the chance of an outsider becoming CEO is around 40% while 60% probability remains of an insider,? another source said.
A greater chance of an insider taking up the CEO role is also strengthened by the developments witnessed at Infosys in the last one year. The IT major has lost over a dozen senior level executives and has decided to fill up the vacancies from within its ranks. However, some industry observers also remarked that it could mean that Infosys was not able to attract the requisite talent from other companies. Dispelling any such notions, a senior official of Infosys said: ?We have got enough talent within the company and our philosophy has always been to give opportunities first to people from within the organisation.?
