The exit of Sandeep Dadlani, former president and head of Americas for Infosys, is unlikely to make much of a difference as large customers come to the company because of its brand name and not because of a single individual.
Though Dadlani had been instrumental in building the American business for the company, many other senior officials are ready to bring in more business from the North American market for Infosys. According to experts, the exit of Dadlani does not mean that top level exits, which had haunted the company sometime ago, have resurfaced. They point out that Dadlani, who had been with the company for more then 15 years, left on his own and does not seem to have been pressurised to leave.
“Infosys is a big company with more than two lakh employees and has a pool of managers who are actively ready to take over senior positions. There are around 1,000 very high level mangers who work at Infosys, and for customers, it is the company first than an individual. It appears that the move by Dadlani is a very well thought of one as he is moving on to another senior level position and does not seem to be a result of any pressure...On the other hand, an individual exit in a mid-tier or a small IT company matters as the company is dependent on that individual to get clients, but in the case of Infosys, it is the brand that matters,” Amit Chandra, IT analyst at HDFC Securities told THE WEEK.
Some experts have also questioned the management style of Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka, but it is a known fact that many new people join a company with a new CEO and many exit when the CEO leaves. “Spate of exits, which had happened a couple of years back at Infosys, will not be back at least for the next few quarters as the investors and shareholders will be watching the performance of Sikka and other high level senior people in the company. However, in case growth does not return to Infosys and Sikka is not able to deliver over the next few quarters, then the shareholders will question the top management. This may lead to some top level people leaving the company. It is too early to say as to how Sikka and his team will perform over the next few quarters as the overall IT environment is also challenging,” said Kris Lakshmikanth, the founder of the recruitment firm Head Hunters India Limited.
Experts also point out that though it is not clear why Dadlani left, but as a head of the company's America business, there is always some pressure to deliver as majority of business for the company comes from North America. “It was a very calculated move as finding a suitable opening at this level otherwise takes at least six months or more. As the chief digital officer at Mars Inc, there will be less pressure on Dadlani as his new position is more of a service function and is not directly a performance driven post,” added Lakshmikanth.
