Infosys may get a consulting, digital services boost with new CEO Salil Parekh at the helm

By Ayan Pramanik
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BENGALURU: Infosys’ new chief executive officer Salil Parekh will probably have to strike a fine balance between old and new to turn the three-decade-old software services exporter more digital. Parekh, the technology outsourcing veteran and former leader at French IT services major Capgemini, is likely to bring focus back on the consulting business.

Infosys, which contributes a little less than one-tenth of the $117-billion Indian software services exports, saw its digital transformation journey go offtrack when Vishal Sikka, the first CEO from a product company, quit.

At the end of September, share of revenue from cloud, AI and other digital technology platforms was 11% for Infosys, much behind the 50% for global peer Accenture.

Analysts said Parekh’s key focus area would be creating a larger consulting business and expanding digital services.

This could be one amongst the key strategic moves, including a big push to revive the financial services segment, which has been Parekh’s specialisation across varied roles at Capgemini.

Infosys does not disclose separate revenue figures for the consulting business. The company’s broad category —called Consulting, Package Implementation and Others —contributes nearly 32% of total business.

“Area of focus is likely to be building up a larger consulting business and using this practice to lead the charge into the digital transformation and IT modernisation space. As this new digital-based services market has emerged, it is clear that the winners need to adopt a consultative lead approach. Salil’s deep experience in building and leading this type of practice will be of great value to Infosys as it moves in this direction,” said Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO, Everest Group, a global technology researcher.

Bendor-Samuel, however, made it clear that Parekh should make his “biggest mark” in the financial services segment.