'Nandan Nilekani can provide stability’

BENGALURU: Nandan Nilekani, many are convinced, might just be the only person who can salvage Infosys from the quagmire it finds itself in today. "The company needs to be stabilised and Nilekani can bring that credibility. Not many people will have his negotiating skills and can mediate between the founders, board and investors," said a person close to the founders and who was with the company from the beginning.

The person quoted above was alluding to Nilekani's transition from the corporate world to government and then to politics quite seamlessly. Nilekani has also managed to be close to the current BJP administration despite him contesting from South Bengaluru seat on a Congress ticket in the last general election. Nilekani currently leads the central government's digital initiatives under IndiaStack that underpins the use of Aadhaar for quickly and efficiently delivering government services using technology. Last year after government's demonetisation, it reached out to Nilekani to quickly put together a digital wallet in a month and that resulted in the Bhim app.

"Nandan (Nilekani) is amazing in his capabilities and understanding about the future of technology. His work on Aadhaar and IndiaStack is transformative and as a leader. He would be great as chairman of the board," said Vivek Wadhwa, a technology entrepreneur from Silicon Valley. However, he added that Nilekani would not come back in an operational role.

"He can provide stability and boost morale of the senior leadership. He also has a big acceptance among youngsters and employees and had the ability to groom future leaders and executive management and move out," said Abraham Koshy, professor of marketing at IIM -Ahmedabad.

In 2006, Nilekani was awarded one of India's highest civilian honours, the Padma Bhushan. The Time magazine listed him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2006 and 2009. Nilekani was also instrumental in co-founding Indian IT industry lobby body, National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom). Fortune magazine conferred on him the 'Asia's Businessman of the Year' honour in 2003. In 2005, he received the prestigious Joseph Schumpeter prize for innovative services in economy, economic sciences, and politics.