Why Infosys and HCLTech have the longest running CEOs

livemint.com:

Wipro Ltd, and Tech Mahindra Ltd have had new bosses within the last two years, whereas Parekh has been at the helm for more than six years and CVK for nearly eight. TCS, India’s largest IT services company, entrusted K. Krithivasan with the top job in June 2023 after Rajesh Gopinathan, who had steered the company for slightly more than six years since February 2017, stepped down.

At Tech Mahindra, Mohit Joshi took over as chief executive in December following C.P. Gurnani’s 10-year reign. And Wipro handed the reins to Srinivas Pallia in April this year following Thierry Delaporte’s controversial exit after four years at the helm.

At Infosys, Parekh took over as chief executive in January 2018. He had joined the company from Capgemini, where he worked for more than two decades. In contrast, HCLTech’s Vijayakumar, who has been with the company for three decades, rose through the ranks and took charge as CEO in October 2016.

Both Parekh and CVK are out-tenured by the founder-CEOs of their companies—HCLTech’s Shiv Nadar and Infosys’s N.R. Narayana Murthy. While Mumbai-based Parekh, 59, is in his seventh year as Infosys boss, US-based Vijayakumar, 56, is in his ninth year as HCLTech CEO.

Parekh and Vijayakumar are the second-longest and longest-serving chief executives in their companies’ history. So what explains their longevity? Parekh and Vijayakumar have followed contrasting approaches. While HCLTech has been inclined towards software products and acquisitions to drive growth, Infosys has relied on mega deals–worth more than $1 billion–to bolster growth.

The lack of mega deals contributed to the ouster of Delaporte from Wipro and Brian Humphries from Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. Ravi Kumar S. replaced Humphries