Third top executive to leave Infosys this summer.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Infosys honcho Ashok Vemuri, the head of its North America operations, has tendered his resignation from the company, leaving the IT giant reeling in the wake of its third major executive loss in recent months.
Vemuri’s exit comes on the heels of the departures of Sudhir Chaturvedi, the US head of the company’s financial services who left just three days ago, and Basab Pradhan, Infosys’s head of global sales, marketing, and alliances who exited in July.
Infosys released a statement announcing Vemuri’s resignation, saying “Ashok has been an integral part of the Infosys journey over the last fifteen years. He has played a significant role in building the company’s market leadership in the financial services and manufacturing verticals and in North America.”
Behind closed doors, however, rumors swirl that Vemuri, who was a board member and the head of global manufacturing and engineering services, departed because he wanted to be a company CEO and didn’t see that opportunity coming anytime soon with Infosys.
Executive chairman N.R. Narayanamurthy told the Times of India that he learned of Vemuri’s impending departure on Tuesday night and asked what could be done to retain him, but Vemuri said he had received a CEO offer at a smaller company and wanted to take it, not being able to wait until 2015 when current Infosys CEO S.D. Shibulal is expected to retire. This is despite numerous reports and statements putting Vemuri in among the top three candidates to assume Shibulal’s position at the head of the reportedly $8 billion company.
However, it appears the split was amicable. “[H]e felt that he must move on,” said Narayanamurthy. “I agreed with him and wished him the best[.] He and I will continue our friendly relations even though he will no [longer] be with us.”
The greener pasture that Vemuri supposedly left Infosys for, though unconfirmed, is heavily speculated to be iGate. Headquartered in Fremont, California, its main center of operations is Bangalore, where the majority of its 30,000 employees are stationed. Founded in 1996, the company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ .
iGate would not confirm, saying that they refuse to comment on unconfirmed reports, but they fit the bill, having fired former CEO Phaneesh Murthy this past May. Murthy, who also used to work for Infosys before joining iGate, was having a relationship with a subordinate employee that he did not disclose, thus prompting his termination when the relationship was uncovered. Gerhard Watzinger was named his successor on a temporary basis until a permanent one could be found.
Vemuri is an honors graduate of St. Stephens College in New Delhi, where he received in bachelor’s degree in physics. He then earned his master’s degree in business management from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Ahmedabad. He joined Infosys in 1999; according to BusinessWeek, his estimated earnings since joining the company are over $49 million.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com