Vishal Sikka(45)new CEO of Infosys

Infosys has appointed former SAP chief technology officer Vishal Sikka as CEO. Dr Sikka will be inducted on the Infosys board on June 14,2014
 On the same day, Infosys founder Narayana Murthy will step down as executive chairman. He will continue as chairman emeritus of Infosys with effect from October 11, 2014.

Vishal Sikka,the 45-year-old computer scientist tweeted this morning soon after a company statement made the announcement, "Humbled to lead @Infosys an iconic pioneer in IT. Looking fwd to learn & work w/ infoscions & global clients on breakthrough innovation."

He has earlier worked with German business software maker SAP AG as its head of products and innovation. He quit SAP AG in May this year. At SAP, Dr Sikka was key in developing its flagship product, Hana, which helps firms analyze large amounts of data quickly and bring it to market.

Dr Vishal Sikka holds a Doctorate in Computer Science from Stanford University and his experience includes research in artificial intelligence, programming models and automatic programming.

The son of an Indian Railways officer, Vishal Sikka completed his early education from Rosary High School, Vadodara, and studied computer engineering at MS University, Baroda.

Dr Vishal Sikka had joined SAP AG in 2002 as head of its technology group and was appointed chief technology officer in 2007. He was also a member of the SAP AG board from 2010-2014.

Before joining SAP, Vishal Sikka worked at Peregrine Systems as area vice president for platform technologies at Peregrine Systems, where he was responsible for application development and integration technologies and architecture.

Vishal Sikka joined Peregrine following the acquisition of Bodha, Inc., which he founded and served as the company's chairman and CEO. Dr Sikka had also founded another start-up IBrain Software

Addressing a press conference, Narayana Murthy(67) welcomed 45-year-old Vishal Sikka as chief executive officer. This is the first time India's second-largest IT services exporter has not chosen one of its founders for the role, as it looks to regain market share and stem a staff exodus.

Narayana Murthy said he would step down on Saturday, nearly a year after he was brought in from retirement to help the company better compete with rivals like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Wipro.

"I welcome our newest Infoscion...I am equally pleased to announce that our colleague for 28 years Pravin Rao has been elevated to COO," Narayana Murthy said, also announcing that as his office as executive chairman is dissolved, his Rohan Murthy will leave the company.