Bengaluru: Nandan Nilekani turns 71 on Tuesday, and if all goes as per plan, Infosys shareholders will reelect him as non-executive chairman for a third successive term at the company's annual general meeting later this month.
Steady Leadership Since 2017
Since his reentry into Infosys in 2017, after the tumultuous period under then CEO Vishal Sikka, things have largely gone as planned for him. And what hasn't gone as per plan – be it the surprising rise in business when Covid struck, the huge fall in business a couple of years later, and the more recent slump in share price in response to agentic AI – have all been industry-wide trends. Even through these periods, Infosys has done reasonably well compared to peers.
Nilekani had said in 2017 that he wanted to make Infosys 'boring' again, following the noisy years under Sikka. And in that, he's been eminently successful – no-drama, no-surprises. He brought a steady hand, and together with CEO Salil Parekh – observers say there's great chemistry between the two – has overseen a period of relative stability and growth. That partnership has taken the company's revenue from $10.9 billion in 2017-18 to more than $20 billion in 2025-26, implying a CAGR of 8.3%, while net profit rose from $2.5 billion to $3.3 billion. This explains why the Board is keen on Nilekani continuing. And Parekh as well.
Challenges in the Third Term
In his third term, assuming shareholders give the nod, Nilekani will have some very different challenges to deal with though. Infosys' rules require him to step down once he's 75. So he has to find his own successor. The recent appointment of former HUL CEO Nitin Paranjpe as vice-chairman looks like a signal from the Board about what's coming. That appointment is already being seen as strengthening the Board's governance framework and risk oversight.
Nilekani will also have to find a new CEO, because Parekh – who turns 62 on Friday – is already past the retirement age set for executives, and has been continuing in the role with shareholder approvals. Parekh's current term ends next year, but with no formal search process yet initiated, analysts believe he will likely be given another shorter extension. But Nilekani will certainly want to settle in a new CEO before he himself exits.
Building Succession Resilience
'Infosys has deliberately strengthened the governance bench around him (Nilekani) with leaders like Paranjpe, which suggests the company is quietly building succession resilience without creating uncertainty around the chairman role itself. That is usually a sign of a mature board preparing for the long term, not reacting to immediate pressure,' says Phil Fersht, CEO of IT research and consulting firm HFS Research.
During Infosys' 40th anniversary celebrations, Nilekani had noted the next chairman would almost certainly be a non-founder. 'I will be having a chairman at whatever point I exit from the scene who will be a non-founder. There is no plan B if I hand it over to somebody and it doesn't work. I can't come back at 75, and I don't think any of these guys (other founders) want to come back either,' he had said, and went on to note: 'I would like Infosys to evolve into an institution that outlives founders and across generations through a professional model.'
Expert Perspectives on Leadership
'Nilekani is well accepted by the board, management, employees and investors. He wants to ensure Infosys is safeguarded for the future,' says Navnit Singh, chairman and regional managing director at executive search firm Korn Ferry India. 'With the vice-chairman's appointment, we can expect the next phase of leadership evolution. The key challenge is how he prepares the firm for an AI-led world.'
Venkat Shastry, founder of leadership consulting firm QuantumV, says the AI era is reshaping the technology services industry at a speed and scale few have witnessed before. 'At a moment like this, having someone of Nilekani's standing at the helm of Infosys is genuinely valuable,' he says. 'He brings not just experience, but credibility – with clients, investors and policymakers alike. Boards of great companies understand that stability at the top is a strategic asset, particularly when everything else around them is changing rapidly.'
