BackVishal Sikka brings more SAP colleagues to Infosys
Since Sikka took over as Infosys CEO in August, a total of 10 SAP executives have joined the software company
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Bengaluru: Infosys Ltd’s chief executive officer (CEO) Vishal Sikka has hired three more of his former colleagues at German software firm SAP SE in a bid to transform India’s second largest software exporter into what Sikka has described as a “next generation IT (information technology) services company".
Sikka’s team at Infosys already has five senior executives from SAP.
Anirban Dey, former managing director of SAP Labs India, the research and development arm of SAP India, has joined Infosys’s products, platforms and solutions subsidiary EdgeVerve as the global head for software products. Kaustav Mitra, formerly global vice-president of SAP Startup Focus, has joined as vice-president, innovation ecosystems at Infosys. Lastly, Gordon Muehl, chief technology officer of security and senior vice-president at SAP, has also joined Sikka’s team, although his role is not yet clear.
All three executives joined Infosys in March.
Dey will be based out of Bengaluru while Mitra and Muehl will be working from Palo Alto, Mint learns.
Dey will report to Michael Reh, the former SAP executive, tasked to oversee Edgeverve, after the earlier boss of the products, platforms and solutions unit, Sanjay Purohit, was earlier this month tasked by Infosys to oversee its consulting business. Mitra in his new role is expected to help Infosys invest in start-ups.
Since Sikka took over as the new CEO of the country’s second largest software company on 1 August, a total of 10 SAP executives have joined Infosys.
They include Abdul Razack, head of platforms; Navin Budhiraja, head, architecture and technology; and Michael Reh, head of core banking product Finacle, and overseeing products, platforms and solutions subsidiary EdgeVerve. These three executives report to chief operating officer Pravin Rao.
Ritika Suri, head of mergers, acquisitions and investments, and Sanjay Rajagopalan, head of design and research, report to Ranganath D. Mavinakere, one of the 12 executive vice-presidents at Infosys. Mitra in his new role will also report to Mavinakere, according to an executive familiar with the development.
“Mitra has been mandated to identify and build new ecosystem opportunities, (including) identifying start-ups (which Infosys should engage with)," said an executive, who did not want to be named as he is not authorized to speak with the media. Currently, Suri is overseeing the Infosys Innovation Fund.
Earlier this year, the firm expanded the fund by five times to $500 million to tap into start-ups focused on technologies like artificial intelligence.
At SAP, Mitra was credited with having recruited over 1,500 start-ups in two years and helped enable $20 million in start-up revenue in 2014, with $90 million forecast for 2015. SAP co-founder Hasso Plattner called it “one of the best ideas at SAP of the past ten years".
Some experts maintain that Sikka reaching out to his former colleagues at SAP is “natural" as it helps him execute the strategy of “new and renew" under which Infosys is embracing new technologies, including automation and artificial intelligence, to regain its bellwether tag.
“SAP executives moving to Infosys conveys that they have confidence in Vishal’s prospects to achieve a turnaround," said Rod Bourgeois, founder and head of research at US-based DeepDive Equity Research.
Infosys declined to comment with a spokeswoman saying: “We do not comment on the appointments or exits other than those of executive officers or the board."
Emails sent to Mitra and Dey remained unanswered.
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