Infosys Bids Farewell to Kris Gopalakrishnan, Celebrates Contributions of all Founders

TechnoparkToday.com(Oct, 2014): Infosys today bid adieu to S (Kris) Gopalakrishnan, the last among the group of extraordinary founders to leave the company. At the farewell function held at the company’s headquarters in Bangalore, Infosys celebrated the exemplary contributions and achievements of the founding team. N. R. Narayana Murthy, K. Dinesh, Nandan M. Nilekani, S. D. Shibulal, Kris Gopalakrishnan and N. S. Raghavan were present at the ceremony.

With Kris’ retirement, the last of the founding team at Infosys has moved on, carving a new path for Infosys under the leadership of Dr. Vishal Sikka, who took over as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Infosys on August 1, 2014. Speaking on the occasion, the founders shared experiences from their journey at Infosys.

A visibly emotional Kris Gopalakrishnan said, “Computers have become ubiquitous and created a large industry, both in products and services. The Internet has connected the world. I have been fortunate to be part of this industry for the last 35 years of its 70 years. I was fortunate that my passion for computing became my profession, and that I was able to make an impact in this industry through Infosys, through the innovations we pioneered and the jobs we created.”

N. R. Narayana Murthy said, “This is a unique event in the 150-plus years of corporate India. Never in the past has this country seen, and probably never in the future will this country see, a set of founders who nurtured their creation with care, sacrifice and passion for 33 years and passed it on with equanimity to a set of outsiders. We leave with the satisfaction of taking this company from a market value of Rs. 28.5 crores on the day of listing in India in 1993 to Rs. 2,00,000 crores today, a return of 6,50,000% over 21 years – a CAGR of 89%. We leave with the distinction of creating several firsts in good corporate governance in India and the world.”

Speaking about the importance of connecting with customers for business success, Nandan M. Nilekani said, “Building client relationships, based on intimacy and empathy, ranks among my top three priorities for business organizations. But intimacy is not only about knowing your client; it is also your ticket to mindshare. And anyone who has business experience will tell you that mindshare always precedes share of market, or of wallet. This is the reason why a number of CEOs at global organizations passionately voice their commitment to ‘listening on the job’.”

Speaking about value addition through innovation, S. D. Shibulal said, “At Infosys, we have always believed that an idea without execution has little value. Innovation at Infosys is; therefore, not about the next big idea alone but a focus on executing these ideas to add value to all our stakeholders – clients, employees, investors and the society. What makes innovation exciting at Infosys is that it is driven by client relevance. Our innovation is geared towards solving our customers’ problems, co-creating with them and offering them a gamut of pioneering solutions.”

N. S. Raghavan said, “I was fortunate to be given the extraordinary privilege of steering the human capital management strategies of Infosys for the better part of the first 20 years of its growth period. Justifying the Infosys tagline, ‘Powered by Intellect, Driven by Values’, put an enormous responsibility on all of us at Infosys, to not only build high-capability human resource teams but also to develop and nurture a value-driven organizational culture. I would like to take this occasion and opportunity to acknowledge and salute this first generation of Infoscions who, I believe, deserve to be given the lion’s share of the credit for laying a strong edifice and foundation for the later growth and success of Infosys.”

Speaking about his last role as the head of Quality at Infosys, K. Dinesh said, “Total Quality has made us succeed as an organization and set ourselves on the path of continued pursuit of excellence driven by constancy of purpose. We have earned the sustained trust of our stakeholders – employees, clients, alliance partners, the industry, government and society. This trust is an intangible, yet invaluable asset, and reflects the success of the Quality journey. I strongly believe that it will continue to be at the core of our success in the years to come.”