Vishal Sikka unveils new Infosys strategy, reliance on visas to go down

Reiterating the goal of $20 billion in revenues by 2020, Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka on Monday unveiled a strategy that includes a visa-independent delivery system, entailing hiring a higher number of local employees in overseas locations.

Addressing shareholders at the Infosys’ 34th Annual General Meeting, Sikka said the company is vigorously renewing its existing “bread and butter” services business through better internal operational efficiencies. Besides the visa-independent delivery strategy, Infosys is also looking at improving its sales effectiveness, quality of proposals and a plan for a zero bench.

Infosys was recently under investigation by the US Department of Labor for alleged H1-B visa abuse. However, Infosys chairman R Seshasayee clarified: “The labour department has only done an audit and we have received no communication on any investigation.”

Sikka said: “We’re not worried about that (H1B issue) — I’m a US citizen. We have an impregnable compliance to these regulations. We carry that responsibility extremely seriously and I know other companies in the industry do so as well. But increasingly with the power of innovation, we are getting to a point where we need to get less and less dependent on visas and more and more dependent on innovation.”

Sikka, who took over as CEO in August last year, has brought in the renew & new strategy for Infosys, which looks at revitalising its core businesses while making a strong foray into newer opportunities. “We are battling in a challenging climate and we have set the foundation for these realignments,” he said.

Sikka said Infosys has been rapidly differentiating itself in its client engagement through this new strategy, while adding “we need to be more competitive in our large deals”. As part of its overall strategy, Infosys is also pushing very strongly into the realm of automation, artificial intelligence, creation of technology platforms and design thinking.

Sikka said it is rapidly implementing these technologies through engagements with clients and its own employees.

Added to this, Infosys also wants to leverage these new technologies both through partnerships with technology start-ups and acquiring companies. Infosys has started to implement these technologies in its key service lines like BPO, infrastructure management, among others.

Sikka said his aspiration for the employees will be to turn into problem finders and create the environment to fuel innovation. However, on the overall strategy, he said: “It will take us time to see the results.”

Seshasayee said: “We are in the midst of tremendous changes in our industry and, therefore, for our company. Traditional business models are beginning to be disrupted by new technologies and new ideas.”

He added: “Vishal Sikka and his management team have articulated a clear and cohesive strategy to exploit these emerging opportunities and, thereby, to return the company to the position of industry leader.” The chairman said the board is supporting the strategic direction taken by the management and is confident of the desired outcome in the coming years.

Infosys ended FY15 with a revenue of Rs 53,319 crore — a growth of 6.4%. The net profit stood at Rs 12,329 crore, a rise of 15.8%.