L&T Infotech COO Chandrashekar Kakal quits

Bengaluru: Chief operating officer (COO) and board member of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) Infotech Chandrashekar Kakal resigned earlier this week, two people familiar with the development said. He is currently serving his notice period.

Kakal’s exit comes at a time when the privately held technology arm of Larsen and Toubro Ltd is looking to build a team of senior executives before it goes public next year.

The Mumbai-based company is expected to file a red herring prospectus by the end of the month and is likely to appoint Manoj Biswas as the head of human resources (HR), said a person familiar with the development. Biswas was earlier the head of HR for Accenture India.

On Tuesday, L&T Infotech appointed former Infosys Ltd veteran Sanjay Jalona as managing director and chief executive of the company that is estimated to have revenues of $800 million.

The fresh appointments come at a time when L&T, the country’s largest engineering and construction company, is looking to list L&T Infotech by selling a 15% stake.

Kakal joined L&T Infotech from Infosys in March last year. With his exit, the company is now looking for a new COO and head of delivery of business based out of Mumbai. The company is also looking to appoint a new chief digital officer and is expected to announce these positions by October, said the executive cited above.

“The new COO will be based out of India and we have mandated the search and should have a COO by October,” said the executive, who declined to be named.

Jalona, who is also on the board of L&T Infotech, will be based out of New Jersey, US. The company counts Citibank and Chevron as its big customers.

A spokesperson for L&T declined to comment. Emails and calls to Kakal went unanswered. Biswas did not respond to an email seeking comment.