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Need a stronger chairman; Murthy's mistake to make founders leaders: Mohandas Pai

Former Infosys CFO T V Mohandas Pai feels that the present leadership at Infosys is not focussed on creating shareholder value.

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Former Infosys CFO T V Mohandas Pai feels that the present leadership at the Bengaluru-based company is not focussed on creating shareholder value even as he reposed faith in CEO Vishal Sikka's leadership, saying there is "need for a strong chairman".

Pai, who served as a board member of Infosys from 2000 to 2011, also said it was a "mistake" on the part of N R Narayana Murthy to "focus on only founders becoming leaders (CEOs)" which led many people to quit the company.

"I am very saddened. All of us spent a major part of our lives building up this great company, and I am very saddened by what has happened," Pai, who is not a founder but spent 17 years with the company before quitting in 2011, told 

Without naming Infosys Chairman R Seshasayee, Pai said: "When you have a strong CEO, you need a strong chairman to balance... so, both can work together. Infosys always had a strong chairman. The chairman holds the company together."

Like Cognizant Technology Solutions, he suggested that Infosys should go in for a share buyback programme. "They (Infosys) should have capital allocation strategy; they are sitting on Rs 40,000 crore of cash. They must use the money for shareholders either through buyback or something else. They are sitting quiet..." Apart from buyback, Infosys needs to be energised which the CEO is doing, according to Pai.

"Communication to the market has to become better. They should improve their communication to the market and shareholders," he advised. Pai is of the view that in the last one or two years, proper communication is lacking. "Because when you miss your numbers, you cannot go and say you are surprised," he said.

On reports that Murthy, Nilekani and Gopalakrishnan have suggested to the Board to take Pai, along with two others, back as board members, he said: "Nobody has spoken to me. It's something I will not be interested (in). I am not interested." "That phase of my life is over, and I am doing exciting things, I need to spend more time on what I am doing. I don't want to go back to what I was doing," added Pai, currently Chairman of Manipal Global Education Services and Aarin Capital.

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