Infosys scraps COO position, distributes responsibilities among other top execs

Software major Infosys will do away with the role of Chief Operating Officer after incumbent UB Pravin Rao retires this month. Instead, it will now create a leadership structure giving key leaders additional responsibilities, sources familiar with the development told Moneycontrol.

Infosys’ move to create a leadership team instead of a single role is aimed at ensuring stability and continuity at the top deck, at a time when it is seeing a strong rebound in growth amid a booming market for software services.

Earlier, its cross-town rival Wipro also did away with the COO position after BM Bhanumurthy retired in June.

Leadership structure
With Rao retiring, President Ravi Kumar S will take charge of Immigration, cyber security, procurement and the India Business Unit. President Mohit Joshi will have an additional charge of Information systems and computers and communications, according to sources.

Executive Vice President (EVP) Karmesh Vaswani will take additional responsibility for Quality. Group HR head Krish Shankar will also be in charge of Talent Acquisition.

Group general counsel Inderpreet Sawhney will also be in charge of privacy and data protection. CFO Nilanjan Roy will also be in charge of Infra, facilities, physical security, and SVP Rafee Tarafdar will take charge as CTO reporting to President Kumar. EVPs Dinesh Rao and Satish HC will be co-heads of delivery and will report to Kumar.

These changes follow the company’s announcement in October, when Infosys CEO Salil Parekh said at the earnings press conference that, “This will be the last full quarter before Pravin retires. We will announce a new future structure in the coming weeks.”

Rao’s 35-year stint in Infosys
Rao, who is retiring in December, is the Chief Operating Officer of Infosys and a whole-time Director of the Board. He was inducted on January 10, 2014, as a member of the Board.

Rao oversees the key functions of global delivery and business enablement. He has over 35 years of industry experience. Since joining Infosys in 1986, he has held a number of senior leadership roles including Interim Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Head of Infrastructure Management Services, Delivery Head for Europe, and Head of Retail, Consumer Packaged Goods, Logistics and Life Sciences. Rao holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from Bangalore University, India.

He played a crucial role in ensuring stability at a time when the company went through a CEO change when Vishal Sikka left and Salil Parekh was appointed. CNBC TV-18