Vishal Sikka Decides Summer Off Is Overrated; Named CEO At Infosys

Rumors have been flying for weeks that former SAP executive, Vishal Sikka would be joining Infosys as its CEO, and this morning the company made it official, naming him CEO and Managing Director.

Sikka resigned quite suddenly last month from SAP after 12 years at the company where among other things he lead the HANA product. It was a big change and appeared to signal a strategy shift at SAP.

I spoke to Sikka at the beginning of the month on the eve of the SAP SAPPHIRE Conference and he suggested he was content to take the summer off, spend time with the family, surf and maybe do some consulting with venture capital firms.

But Sikka left the door open to some possibilities. As I wrote, “He puts a big caveat on that plan though, saying if a great offer came along, one he couldn’t refuse, he would take it–and he hinted there were some possibilities moving so quickly it might happen.”

There were rumors flying about Infosys, even when I wrote that story, but an industry insider insisted they weren’t true. Perhaps that was the case at the time and over the last couple of weeks they sweetened the pot or offered him greater authority to run the company as he wishes.

As Sikka told me earlier this month, “He even leaves open the possibility of joining another big company, but only one without what he calls “structural roadblocks” and that gives him “the long-term ability to innovate.” He adds that past success can sometimes inhibit the ability to innovate inside larger organizations.”

It would appear that Infosys offered him what he was looking for and maybe the summer off wasn’t what it was cracked up to be. Whatever the reason, the next challenge awaits and there’ll be no surfing in Sikka’s immediate future.