Salil Parekh

Salil Parekh
Born	5 6, 1964
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Infosys
Known for	CEO of Infosys; former Deputy CEO of Capgemini
Spouse(s)	Shaleen S. Parekh
Website	[https://www.infosys.com/about/management-profiles/salil-parekh.html Official site]

Salil Parekh (born 5 June 1964) is an Indian business executive who serves as the chief executive officer and managing director of Infosys, one of India's largest information technology services companies. He assumed the role on 2 January 2018, succeeding interim CEO U. B. Pravin Rao during a period of significant leadership upheaval at the company. Before joining Infosys, Parekh spent over two decades at the French multinational consulting and IT services firm Capgemini, where he rose to the position of deputy CEO and played a central role in building the company's India operations. Under his leadership at Infosys, the company has navigated challenges including a whistleblower crisis, evolving immigration policies in the United States, and the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence as a transformative force in the IT services industry. Parekh is a member of The Business Council.

Early Life

Salil Parekh was born on 5 June 1964. He is of Gujarati origin. His mother is Kokila S. Parekh. Details about his upbringing and early formative years prior to his higher education remain limited in publicly available sources. His appointment as CEO of Infosys in 2017 drew attention in Gujarat, with media outlets noting the significance of a Gujarati executive being named to lead one of India's most prominent technology companies, which is headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Education

Parekh completed his undergraduate education at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay), where he earned a Bachelor of Technology (BTech) degree. He subsequently pursued graduate studies in the United States at Cornell University, where he obtained a Master of Science (MS) degree. His educational background in engineering from two distinguished institutions provided the technical foundation for his career in the information technology consulting and services industry.

Career

Capgemini (1990s–2017)

Before his appointment at Infosys, Parekh built a career spanning more than two decades at Capgemini, the Paris-headquartered multinational information technology and consulting corporation. He played a pivotal role in building and expanding Capgemini's operations in India, which became a major part of the company's global delivery model. His work in India was instrumental in establishing the country as a key hub for Capgemini's offshore service delivery capabilities, helping the firm compete with Indian IT giants in leveraging India's vast pool of technology talent.

Parekh rose through the ranks at Capgemini to become the company's deputy CEO, a position that gave him oversight of significant portions of the firm's global business. In this role, he was responsible for major business units and had exposure to a wide range of industries and client relationships across multiple geographies. His tenure at Capgemini was characterized by his involvement in the firm's growth strategy, particularly its expansion in emerging markets and the development of its consulting and technology services portfolio.

His long career at a major European IT services firm provided Parekh with a global perspective on the technology consulting industry that differed from the experience of executives who had spent their careers primarily at Indian-origin IT companies. This international experience was later cited as one of the factors that made him an attractive candidate for the Infosys CEO position.

Appointment as CEO of Infosys

On 2 December 2017, the Infosys board of directors announced the appointment of Salil Parekh as the company's chief executive officer and managing director, effective 2 January 2018. The appointment came at a particularly turbulent time for Infosys. The company had experienced a protracted public dispute between its founders, led by co-founder N. R. Narayana Murthy, and its board of directors over issues of corporate governance, executive compensation, and strategic direction. The conflict had led to the resignation of the previous CEO, Vishal Sikka, in August 2017, and U. B. Pravin Rao had been serving as interim CEO.

The selection of Parekh, an outsider to Infosys who had spent his entire career at Capgemini, was a notable choice. Fortune magazine reported on his appointment in the context of Infosys navigating both internal governance challenges and external pressures related to immigration policy changes in the United States, a major market for the company. His appointment was seen as an effort by the board to bring in a seasoned global executive who could stabilize the company, restore confidence among investors and employees, and chart a new strategic course.

The question of whether Parekh could satisfy the expectations of Narayana Murthy and the other co-founders, while simultaneously driving the company's growth and transformation, was a central theme in media coverage of his appointment. The Economic Times noted that keeping Murthy content would be among Parekh's most significant challenges.

Whistleblower Crisis (2019)

In October 2019, Infosys was confronted with a significant corporate governance crisis when anonymous whistleblowers, identifying themselves as "Ethical Employees," alleged irregularities in the company's financial reporting practices. The complaints, addressed to the Infosys board of directors and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, alleged that CEO Salil Parekh and Chief Financial Officer Nilanjan Roy had engaged in practices to boost short-term revenues and profits, including inappropriate recognition of certain large deals.

The revelations sent shockwaves through the company and the broader Indian IT sector. CNN reported that Infosys had launched an investigation into the allegations, noting that the whistleblower complaints had the potential to undermine the credibility that Parekh had been working to rebuild following the earlier governance disputes. The company's stock price experienced volatility in the immediate aftermath of the reports.

Infosys commissioned an internal audit to investigate the whistleblower allegations. In early 2020, the company reported that the internal audit had found no merit in the whistleblower allegations of wrongdoing by Parekh or other executives. The conclusion of the investigation without adverse findings allowed Parekh to continue leading the company and helped restore stability to its governance.

AI Strategy and Recent Developments (2025–2026)

Under Parekh's leadership, Infosys has increasingly oriented its strategy around artificial intelligence, positioning AI as a core element of the company's service offerings and future growth trajectory. By early 2026, AI-related services had grown to account for 5.5% of Infosys's quarterly revenue, a figure that Parekh described as reflecting a transition from pilot projects to scaled enterprise deployments.

In February 2026, Parekh identified six areas within artificial intelligence services that he projected could unlock a market opportunity of $300 billion to $400 billion by 2030, outlining the company's strategic bets in the AI space. As part of this strategy, Infosys announced a partnership with Anthropic, the AI safety company, in February 2026. The partnership came days after investor concerns had triggered a selloff in Indian IT stocks, driven by fears that AI tools could disrupt the traditional business model of IT services companies.

Infosys also hosted an "AI Day 2026" event at its headquarters in Bengaluru, where Parekh and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani outlined the company's AI strategy and key themes for the future.

Parekh has offered a measured assessment of AI's impact on the technology workforce. In February 2026, he stated that AI tools would not overnight replace software engineers, particularly in large companies, noting that while jobs may evolve, the transformation would be gradual rather than sudden. He also defended the resilience of the global tech services industry, stating that the $1.5 trillion sector was "still standing" despite AI's impact on certain areas of the business.

U.S. Immigration Matters

In early 2026, Parekh addressed rumors and viral social media claims that an Infosys employee had been apprehended or deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. He clarified that no Infosys employee had been apprehended by any U.S. authority, seeking to quash speculation that had circulated online and drawn attention to the Indian IT industry's reliance on work visas for employees stationed in the United States. The issue of U.S. immigration policy and its potential impact on Indian IT companies has been a recurring theme throughout Parekh's tenure, with changes to H-1B visa regulations and enforcement being a matter of concern for the industry.

Personal Life

Salil Parekh is married to Shaleen S. Parekh. He is of Gujarati heritage. Beyond these publicly documented facts, Parekh has maintained a relatively private personal life. He is a member of The Business Council, a forum of chief executives of major global companies.

Recognition

Parekh's appointment as CEO of Infosys was itself a significant recognition of his career achievements, given Infosys's position as one of India's most prominent and closely watched corporations. His selection was covered by major international media outlets including Fortune, CNN, and Forbes, reflecting the global significance of the role.

His membership in The Business Council places him among a select group of chief executives recognized for their leadership of major enterprises. Within the Indian IT industry, Parekh's handling of the whistleblower crisis and his strategic pivot toward AI services have been subject to extensive media scrutiny and analysis, reflecting his position as one of the most prominent executives in the sector.

Legacy

As of early 2026, Salil Parekh's legacy at Infosys continues to be shaped by ongoing developments, particularly the company's strategic response to artificial intelligence. His tenure has been defined by several distinct phases: the initial stabilization of the company following the governance turmoil that preceded his appointment, the navigation of the 2019 whistleblower crisis, and the subsequent pivot toward positioning Infosys as an AI-services company.

His career trajectory — from building Capgemini's India operations over more than two decades to leading one of India's flagship IT companies — represents a distinctive path in the Indian technology industry. Unlike many of his predecessors at Infosys who were either co-founders of the company or career Infosys executives, Parekh brought an outsider's perspective informed by extensive experience at a European multinational.

The transition of Infosys under Parekh's leadership toward AI-driven services, evidenced by AI's growing share of company revenue and strategic partnerships such as the one with Anthropic, represents an effort to adapt the company's business model to technological shifts that have the potential to reshape the entire IT services industry. His public statements about the measured pace of AI's impact on employment and the continued viability of the $1.5 trillion global tech services industry have contributed to broader industry discourse about the future of technology services in the age of artificial intelligence.