K V Kamath appointed chairman of Infosys, Shibulal is new CEO

In a surprise move, Infosys Ltd today announced the appointment of former ICICI Bank chief K V Kamath as its new chairman. Kamath, who is already an independent director on the board of Infosys and the non-executive chairman of ICICI Bank, will take over as Infosys chairman on 21 August.

S Dinesh Shibulal will take over as the new CEO from the incumbent S Gopalakrishnan, who will in turn become the co-chairman.

N R Narayana Murthy, the founder-chairman of Infosys, will retire from the Infosys board when he turns 65 in August and become chairman emeritus.

The Infosys board took the decision on the recommendations of the nominations committee.

"Infosys is a company which has been built by its founders, led by the visionary leader Narayana Murthy," remarked Kamath. "This is an innovation-led company, with a core of outstanding professionals that has always set the highest standards and has built a unique culture. I feel greatly honoured to have been asked to be the chairman and accept this responsibility with a deep sense of humility."

Infosys stock had plunged on the local markets over the past fortnight after the company announced the resignation of two top directors and a lower-than-expected quarterly profit (See: Mohandas Pai, K Dinesh resign from Infosys).