Infosys’ next CEO; Swiggy renews Indian-ownership bid

Infosys announced on Thursday that company veteran Ashiss Kumar Dash will be the CEO from April 2027. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.

Also in the letter:
■ Google ups capex spend
■ Travis Kalanick’s Atoms raises funds
■ New wave of layoffs

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Infosys on Thursday announced the appointment of Ashiss Kumar Dash as its CEO designate.

The details: Dash will succeed Salil Parekh as Infosys managing director and chief executive officer on April 1, 2027, following the completion of the latter's second term. Parekh’s total stint at the firm would span over nine years.

Dash's appointment is for a period of five years based on the recommendation of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the Infosys board. He has been with India’s second-largest IT major for about three decades, and currently leads its sustainability business.

Quote, unquote: "Technology is entering a new era, with AI fundamentally reshaping how businesses operate and create value. Infosys begins this next phase from a position of enormous strength — with a clearly articulated AI strategy, exceptional talent, deep client relationships, and values that have earned the trust of customers globally,” Dash said.



The IT services giant reported healthy growth in revenue and profit for the first quarter of FY27.

• Net profit: Up 12% year-on-year (YoY), at Rs 7,769 crore, versus Rs 6,921 crore last year.
• Revenue from operations: Increased 14% YoY to Rs 48,211 crore.
• AI revenue: At 8.2% of total revenue in Q1
• Large deal total contract value (TCV): $3.6 billion; 61% of the net new business.

Guidance trimmed: For the full 2027 financial year, the company has trimmed the upper end of its revenue growth guidance to 1.5-3% in constant currency, while the operating margin outlook was 20-22%. This shows that despite large deal wins, demand visibility in the sector remains limited.


Vidit Aatrey, CEO, Meesho

Ecommerce marketplace Meesho saw strong revenue growth in Q1, while its losses narrowed.

Financials:

• Consolidated revenue from operations: Up 48% YoY to Rs 3,713 crore
• Net loss: Halved to Rs 133 crore from Rs 289 crore a year ago.
• Net merchandise value (NMV): Increased 34% to Rs 11,614 crore.

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Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety

Swiggy’s board has approved a 49.5% cap on aggregate foreign ownership and key changes to its articles of association, in a renewed push to qualify as an Indian-owned and controlled company (IOCC) after failing to garner shareholder support for this in May.

Driving the news:

• The proposed changes will go to shareholders as special resolutions at its August 18 AGM, which they will need to vote on; following this, Swiggy must seek RBI approval for the cap.
• The cap, on a fully diluted basis, covers direct and indirect foreign ownership, including FPIs, NRIs, and foreign-controlled Indian vehicles.
• It also plans to remove existing individual and institutional board nomination rights, and add or revise rights for specific resident individuals in order to establish domestic control.

Why this move: On July 7, Swiggy said aggregate foreign investment had fallen to 49.76% as of July 6, taking its Indian ownership to 50.24%.

IOCC status would allow Instamart to own inventory, improving control over its assortment, availability, and margins, and let Swiggy book the full sales value of the goods instead of just fee income. Eternal, Zomato‑Blinkit’s parent, adopted a similar cap in 2025.

Yes, and: JM Financial expects Swiggy’s IOCC transition to close no earlier than March 2027, implying that Instamart’s full inventory shift would happen from April 2027 at the earliest.

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Google CEO Sundar Pichai

Google parent Alphabet on Wednesday reported the best-ever quarter of growth for its cloud computing division, but nonetheless faced investor scrutiny due to a $15 billion increase in its 2026 capex.

Financials:

• It now expects capital expenditure of $195-$205 billion, against the $180-190 billion it had planned earlier.
• Total revenue for the quarter was $119.8 billion.
• Google Cloud revenues rose 82% to $24.8 billion during the quarter ended June.
• Google reported negative free cash flow for the first time in its history, burning $5.9 billion this quarter.

Investor worries: While Google Cloud has made Alphabet a big beneficiary of the AI boom, the company's own AI efforts lost steam this year following the delay in the June launch of its next flagship model, Gemini 3.5 Pro.

This has left Google trailing in the AI coding tools market and fuelled concerns on Wall Street. However, Pichai defended Gemini’s position in its earnings call.

Also Read: EU hits Google with $1 billion fine over its Play app store and search

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Atoms, the robotics and industrial AI startup founded by Uber founder and former chief executive Travis Kalanick, has raised $1.7 billion in a round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

More on the deal:

• The funding includes both equity and debt, with Uber among the backers.
• a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz said in a post on X that he will join Atoms' board.
• The capital will help Atoms build physical automation systems for industries such as mining, construction, heavy transport, and food production.
• The company is developing "industrial AI", combining software, sensors, and robotics and AI to automate physical operations across industries.

Pronto acquisition: Atoms strengthened its autonomous technology business by acquiring self-driving startup Pronto, founded by former Uber engineer Anthony Levandowski, in April. Pronto develops autonomous driving technology for mining and industrial applications.

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In a fresh spate of layoffs, Disney, Uber, and Amazon announced they will cut jobs in multiple divisions affecting hundreds of workers.

• Disney: Media reports said Disney cut hundreds of jobs across corporate teams, ESPN, Disney Entertainment Television (DET), and the company's film studios. Among the entertainment divisions, National Geographic, which sits within DET, has been hit the hardest, while most of the layoffs on the studio side are at Pixar.
• Uber: Uber Technologies has cut 10% of roles in its customer service operations, becoming the latest company to link layoffs directly to AI. The company spokesperson said Uber is simplifying operations and “embracing AI”.
• Amazon: In this case, it was the AI team getting the axe. The ecommerce giant on Wednesday cut jobs in its artificial general intelligence group, in what was the latest in a series of smaller reductions across the company since a much larger one in January.