Troubled Infosys names banker as new chairman

Infosys on Saturday named a prominent banker to take charge of India's second-largest software exporter as the firm struggles to boost performance in the face of slow global recovery. Infosys Technologies appointed K.V. Kamath as chairman to replace founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, who is slated to retire from the post at the age of 65 in August as part of a shake-up in its top management.
Kamath, 63, the first non-company founder to head the software giant based in India's southern technology hub Bangalore, formerly headed India's largest private bank, ICICI. "I am so happy he will be steering the company in the future," Murthy told a news conference as he announced the appointment, which he said had been a unanimous choice.
Kamath, who has been an independent director on the Infosys board since May 2009, takes the helm as India's flagship outsourcing sector faces challenges from a slow recovery in Europe and the United States and currency volatility. Infosys said S.D. Shibulal, now chief operating officer, would become chief executive, replacing S. Gopalakrishnan, who will become executive co-chairman.
Murthy, who helped pioneer India's outsourcing industry and is widely respected for his business acumen and ethics, will serve as chairman emeritus of the company, which will be realigned into new broad business groups. "I accept this position with the deepest humility," Kamath said, paying tribute to Murthy as someone who built a company "with integrity and defined that as a core value".
"No-one can replace N.R. Narayana Murthy," Kamath, currently non-executive chairman of ICICI Bank, told reporters. "What he did for Infosys epitomised the spirit of the new India." Infosys, regarded as a bellwether for the $60 billion Indian export-focused outsourcing sector, was founded by Murthy and six other entrepreneurs three decades ago with an investment of just $250.
US and other foreign firms, drawn by India's vast, educated English-speaking workforce and labour costs that are lower than in the West, have farmed out a range of jobs from answering bank client calls to processing insurance claims. The appointment comes after Infosys reported earlier in April fiscal fourth-quarter earnings which disappointed investors and gave a weak outlook for the current financial year.