Ekta Goraksha-2013012

Shibulal's role unclear as Narayana Murthy starts work to turn the tide for Infosys

Thirty-three years after NR NarayanaMurthyhad unwittingly locked up his junior colleague SD Shibulal in his office - asking him not to go home before finishing a complex piece ofsoftware - he seems to have done it again. But in 2013 Shibulal's second round in captivity may not have as beatific an ending.

Back in 1980 the two worked at Patni Computer Services, before co-foundingInfosysBSE -0.04 % Technologies with five others a year later. Murthy himself had rescued Shibulal when he found him 48 hours later, labouring away in his lungi, over the weekend.

In 2011, Shibulal, the brilliant backroom boy, got his turn as CEO at Infosys. Two years later, he is still CEO, but only just, with Murthy who came back as executive chairman in June this year making subtle shifts in strategy and changing the way it is executed - and in the process reversing many of Shibulal's decisions.

The Infosys board also restructured the hierarchy with executive co-chairman Kris Gopalakrishnan - who Shibulal had succeeded as CEO - transitioning to executive vice-chairman. And for good measure Murthy also brought along his son Rohan Murty to assist him.

REGIME CHANGE

"In a less genteel environment, Shibulal would have gone by now," says Peter Bendor-Samuel, founder CEO of Everest Group, a Dallas-based research and consultancy firm that has been tracking Infosys closely. "They are treating him well and with respect because he is a co-founder," he adds.

The 58-year-old Shibulal has stuck on for the time being - even as he sees his own well-crafted strategy being improvised on by his mentor. He is slated to retire in March 2015 and ever since he took over in 2011, there has been speculation about his successor.

A senior professional based in Bangalore who has been watching Infosys closely says Shibu, as he is known popularly, has been sidelined from the decisionmaking process, even though he continues to be the public face of the company. "He would often say 'go ask Murthy'," said the person who did not want to be identified.

While Murthy, Shibulal and the Infosys corporate communication team refused to participate in this feature, the effect of fresh thinking and a fresh strategy are becoming visible. Six top executives at Infosys have resigned since Murthy came back in June 2013 as executive chairman. And in terms of financials, the Murthy-led team has been able to bump up growth in the quarter ended September 30, 2013, over the previous quarter, although these are clearly early days to look for a turnaround trend.

Bendor-Samuel indicates that Murthy has basically decentralised decision-making, bringing executive authority closer to the chairman's office. The executive council that ran Infosys saw powers moving to the chairman's office, manned by MD Ranganath, Deepak Padaki and Rohan. So regional satraps, who had a lot of freedom to operate, suddenly found their decision-making executive powers taken away.