Vishal Sikka resigns as CEO with immediate effect

Vishal Sikka has resigned as the CEO and MD of Infosys with immediate effect. However, he will continue working as the Executive Vice-Chairman of the software major. Chief Operating Officer, UB Pravin Rao has been appointed as the interim MD and CEO of the company.

According to various media reports, Sikka has cited personal attacks as one of the reasons for his resignation.

He stated in his resignation letter, “Over the last many months and quarters, we have all been besieged by false, baseless, malicious and increasingly personal attacks. Allegations that have been repeatedly proven false and baseless by multiple, independent investigations. But despite this, the attacks continue, and worse still, amplified by the very people from whom we all expected the most steadfast support in this great transformation.

He further added, "This continuous drumbeat of distractions and negativity over the last several months/quarters, inhibits our ability to make positive change and stay focused on value creation. Addressing the noise by itself is damaging; hundreds of hours of my own time has gone into this recently. But the structural challenges this engenders within the organization has a very damaging effect on our ability to carry out any kind of a transformation, especially one that is as fundamental as transforming from a cost-oriented to an innovation oriented value delivery to clients.”

With his resignation, Infosys shares dropped as much as 7.6 percent. Sikka will now serve as Executive Vice-Chairman and will focus on strategic matters. Sikka left SAP Board in 2014 to join Infosys as MD and CEO. He had recently completed three years at Infosys. In the last few month, Infosys had seen some senior-level executives resigning which include Anirban Dey, Global Head and Chief Business Officer of Edge products, Yusuf Bashir MD, Infosys Innovation Fund and Ritika Suri, Executive Vice-President.

Here is the resignation letter: