DNA Money Edit: Salil Parekh's challenges as Infosys CEO

Salil S Parekh, who has been appointed by India's second largest IT firm Infosys as its new CEO and managing director, now faces several challenges. His appointment follows the exit of former CEO Vishal Sikka in August after a protracted disagreement between top management and founder Narayana Murthy. Parekh, who currently works at consultancy firm Capgemini, is a complete outsider just like Sikka. So, keeping peace with the management and founders will remain high on his agenda.

As the traditional outsourcing business faces a margin squeeze, Parekh will have to identify new high-margin areas like big data, cloud and analytics, along with new markets. The expected work visa changes (H1B) in the US, the biggest market for Indian IT firms, has become a headache for Infosys. He will have to continue with the automation strategy, implemented by Sikka, with an increased vigour. Another priority will be to retain the talent and slow down attrition at the high-level.

In August, Infosys slashed its annual revenue forecast to 6.5% from 7.5% growth for the year ending March 2018 in dollar terms, much below the 7.6% rise market analysts were anticipating. The boardroom brawl and the exit of Sikka had shaved billions of dollars off the company's market value. Though it has bounced back since then, Infosys share price is down about 6% since Sikka's resignation.