Nandan Nilekani on Succession Planning

Nandan Mohanrao Nilekani, born in Bangalore, is the Indian entrepreneur who co-founded Infosys and serves as its non-executive chairman. He returned to that post on 24 August 2017 after Vishal Sikka's exit, replacing the dual-chair structure of R Seshasayee and Ravi Venkatesan. As of late 2025 he was ranked the hundredth-richest person in India with a net worth of about three point two billion dollars.

Nilekani served as Infosys CEO from March 2002 to April 2007, during which the firm's revenue grew roughly sixfold to about three billion dollars. He then handed the CEO role to colleague Kris Gopalakrishnan and moved to co-chairman of the board — an early example of the planned, founder-led succession pattern Infosys institutionalised.

He was appointed non-executive chairman of Infosys on 24 August 2017 in the wake of Vishal Sikka's exit. On return he moved the centre of power back from California to Bangalore and oversaw the resignation of several Sikka-era directors including Jeffrey Lehman and John Etchemendy, re-stabilising founder control over the board.