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𝗔𝗜. 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿. 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗹. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀 A real story of ambition, tradition, and one of India’s most dramatic CEO exits. 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟰. 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗰𝗸. Clients are demanding more innovation. Competitors are moving faster. Employees feel outdated. The board makes a bold move: Appoint 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐢𝐤𝐤𝐚, a Silicon Valley tech genius, as CEO. First non-founder. First outsider. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 — 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗶𝗸𝗸𝗮 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 Sikka had a vision: Transform Infosys into an 𝐀𝐈-𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 Shift from service contracts to 𝐈𝐏 & 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬 Inject speed, design, and modern thinking 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐥 He brought SAP-style innovation. 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐧 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘 — 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗛𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 He moved fast: Introduced 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 workshops across the org Built Infosys Nia (AI platform) Pushed for 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 Increased salaries to attract 𝐭𝐨𝐩-𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 Hired global execs with 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭-𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 From suits to sneakers, everything started changing. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 — 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 But legacy doesn’t let go easily. 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲, the founding icon, wasn’t impressed. Infosys stood for: Frugality Ethics Humility Value creation before valuation To him, the changes weren’t progress. They were a 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐥. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗧 — 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜𝘁 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗕𝗹𝗲𝘄 𝗨𝗽 Then came the spark: A ₹17 crore severance to the outgoing CFO. For Murthy, this wasn’t just money. It was a 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐧 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. He began questioning the board. Emails were leaked. Criticism became public. The boardroom turned into a battleground. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗫𝗜𝗧 — 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗜𝘁 𝗘𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 In 2017, Sikka resigned. He called the attacks: “𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥.” Infosys lost $𝟑 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 in market cap in one day. The board blamed Murthy. Murthy blamed the culture drift. India watched. The media feasted. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 This wasn’t just a leadership exit. It was a battle of two mindsets: 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐯𝐬. 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐯𝐬. 𝐕𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐯𝐬. 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐧 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗢𝗡 Disruption isn’t just about tech or tools. It’s about shifting 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐬. And that’s hard. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐭. Innovation must speak the language of culture — or it dies.