From tech wizard to CEO

Vishal Sikka, 48, grew up in Madhya Pradesh and went to school in India, then got his engineering degree at Syracuse University in the US and added a PhD in artificial intelligence at Stanford.

He joined Infosys in 2014 as chief executive officer (CEO) to help transform the company during a time of significant change in the services industry.

When he took over, the company was lagging behind industry growth. During his tenure as CEO, Infosys revenues have grown from $2.13 billion in Q1FY15 to $2.65 billion this past first quarter.

Sikka has been appointed executive vice chairman of Infosys effective August 18, 2017, and will receive an annual salary of $1 during his tenure.

He will hold office until the new permanent chief executive officer and managing director takes charge, which should be no later than March 31, 2018.

Prior to joining Infosys, Sikka was a member of the executive board of SAP SE, leading all products and technologies.

His experience includes research in artificial intelligence, intelligent systems, programming languages and models, and information management – at Stanford University, at Xerox Palo Alto Labs, and as the founder of two startups - iBrain and Bodha.com.