Infosys: Men at top
By Shalini Singh

Highly regarded Infosys may not be the biggest Indian tech company, but it certainly has the respect of most Indians.  Much of this respect is due to the almost Gandhian beliefs of its co-founder Narayana Murthy and the fact that Infosys shares its wealth with employees and shareholders.

But despite having so many positives, it appears Infosys still has a glass ceiling for most women executives. The main reason is that Infosys was founded by men and they continue to monopolize the top positions.  An Infosys source close to the Board tells Techgoss that internally it is expected that Shibulal will take on responsibility of CEO of Infosys in next financial year.

The same source gave Techgoss a list of highly accomplished women in Infosys who reached senior management but never had a chance of making it to the top layers. Hema Ravichadar who headed HR for very long and was SVP quit the organization few years ago and same was the fate of Priti Rao SVP, who headed infrastructure services and Pune centre for long.  Anuradha Biswas who practically ran Testing Services left recently.  After a long stint Geetha Kannan, Vice President H, left about a year ago. Another key HR person, Suma Subramanian, left few years ago. Shubha V who was a Vice President, Delivery left recently.

This exodus of capable women has been happening since the very beginning.  Sudha, who was head of planning, left around 2000.  Jessie Paul, one of the key figures in marketing, left a few years ago. Rama who was legal Counsel a few years ago left after a short stint.

Needless to say, Indian tech will be stronger and more prosperous when women are given equal opportunities at the very top.  Ironically, most in the tech industry credit Sudha Murthy for much of the success of her brilliant husband Narayana Murthy and consequentially of Infosys itself.