MPPSC 2018 Prelims Q13: Who is appointed as the CEO of Infosys in place of Vishal

Q: What is the answer to MPPSC 2018 Prelims Q13?

B. Correct — B, Salil Parekh. After Vishal Sikka resigned as CEO of Infosys in August 2017, the board named Salil Parekh — a senior executive who came in from Capgemini — as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. The appointment was announced in December 2017 and he took charge on 2 January 2018.

MPPSC 2018 Prelims Paper-I · Question 13 of 100

Verified against the official question paper. Answer as per the official MPPSC answer key.

Who is appointed as the CEO of Infosys in place of Vishal Sikka?

(a)Deepak Parekh
(b)Salil Parekh
(c)Nandan Nilekani
(d)N. R. Narayanmurty

Answer

Why

Correct — B, Salil Parekh. After Vishal Sikka resigned as CEO of Infosys in August 2017, the board named Salil Parekh — a senior executive who came in from Capgemini — as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. The appointment was announced in December 2017 and he took charge on 2 January 2018.

Why the others are wrong

(a)Deepak Parekh — Long-time chairman of HDFC; the shared surname 'Parekh' is the trap — he never headed Infosys.
(c)Nandan Nilekani — An Infosys co-founder who returned in August 2017 as non-executive Chairman of the board — a governance role, not the CEO's post.
(d)N. R. Narayanmurty — Co-founder and former chairman/mentor of Infosys; he was not appointed to this CEO position.

Concept

Infosys is a Bengaluru-based information-technology services company and one of India's largest software exporters. A CEO/Managing Director runs day-to-day operations, while the board chairman leads governance. In 2017, Vishal Sikka's exit amid a founder–management dispute led to Nandan Nilekani returning as chairman and Salil Parekh being brought in as the new CEO.

The distractors pair two 'Parekh' names (Deepak vs Salil) with two famous Infosys founders (Nilekani, Murthy) who held board roles rather than this CEO post. Separate the operational CEO from the boardroom chairman.

Key facts

Vishal Sikka resigned as Infosys CEO in August 2017.
Salil Parekh was appointed CEO & Managing Director and took charge on 2 January 2018.
He joined Infosys from Capgemini.
Nandan Nilekani returned as non-executive Chairman in August 2017.

Study next

India's IT and ITeS sector and software exportsNASSCOM and the software-services industryCorporate governance: CEO versus board ChairmanFounder-led versus professionally managed companiesLeaders of major Indian technology firms

Common traps

Confusing the two 'Parekh' surnames
Treating the returning chairman (Nilekani) as the CEO

A current-affairs 'who was appointed CEO/head of X' item — the skill is to pair the person with the organisation and the predecessor they replaced.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Salil Parekh, appointed CEO of Infosys in 2017–18, joined from which company?
- (a)Capgemini
- (b)TCS
- (c)Wipro
- (d)Accenture
Answer(a) Capgemini — where he had been a senior executive.
practice — not a real PYQ
Who returned to Infosys in August 2017 as its non-executive Chairman?
- (a)N. R. Narayana Murthy
- (b)Nandan Nilekani
- (c)S. Gopalakrishnan
- (d)S. D. Shibulal
Answer(b) Nandan Nilekani — an Infosys co-founder who came back to chair the board.