Portland<\/a> and Marsh BPO. All these\u00a0 we acquired not for scale, but for a logical fit in our portfolio. We identify those areas (white spaces) which we believe will give us the capability and skillset to get a headstart or help fill the gaps from our overall capability set. However, each business has to stand on its own \u2013 we don\u2019t want to go acquire just to get revenues. Businesses have to be profitable and have clear growth paths of their own. We also want to make sure we are able to go after them in a structured fashion. One aspect people tend to ignore is how the acquired firm integrates in the company and whether it\u2019s a good fit overall. All our BPO acquisitions have been integrated extremely well, giving me great confidence to go ahead and look for similar assets in the market, as and when it happens. We\u2019re always looking for the right assets which fulfill the criteria I outlined, and we\u2019ll continue to do so.<\/p>\nPhil:<\/strong> So what are you<\/span> going to do differently that\u2019s going to make a huge impact to Infosys and the market?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nGautam:<\/strong> One of the aspects I\u2019ve always been comfortable with at Infosys is client relationships. That\u2019s my strength and I will ensure I engage with the right clients, whether existing or prospects we\u2019re targeting. As I mentioned earlier, the bedrock of what we had evolved was growth, differentiation and people. If I extend that to the 3Rs, I am going to continuously focus on and hopefully take Infosys to the next level. The nature of the market is also changing, there are more integrated deals happening now. Fortunately when we talk to clients and customers, we are one business, whether its IT, infrastructure, systems integration, consulting or BPO. That gives me strength and comfort that we\u2019ll be able to take this to market appropriately. I believe clients will start seeing that value proposition that I think will differentiate us from the rest.<\/p>\nPhil:<\/strong> There\u2019s been a lot of talk, particularly from Infosys, about seeking “non-linear growth”\u2026you\u2019re saying 33% of revenues are going to be targeted at being non-linear in the mid-term. How realistic is that for BPO, is that achievable and are you already seeing signs of that evolving for the company?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nGautam:<\/strong> The BPO and technology businesses are very closely linked at the hip. The platform strategy that Infosys 3.0 talks about is very closely linked to BPO as well. For example, two of our platforms out there, TalentEdge and ProcureEdge allow us to go on the platform and manage the entire stack of applications, infrastructure and all the business processes. That completely ties in to what Infosys is trying to do from a non-linear perspective. The other thing to remember from a BPO standpoint is that we\u2019re close to $600 million in revenues and 25,000 people. Three years down the line, if we want to double revenues, we can\u2019t also double headcount. There has to be a break in linearity so that we can grow our business sensibly, along with technology interventions. Infosys 3.0 fits in with what we\u2019re trying to do because for this industry or business, you don\u2019t want to double both [revenues and headcount]. After a while, it becomes unmanageable. There are some core processes which will be intensive on resources, but I think technology will play a big role. This is why I mentioned the cost and growth focused BPO initiatives. The shift will increasingly happen, but it will be on the back of technology, not just on the back of headcount as you increase revenues.<\/p>\nPhil:<\/strong> Finally, if I wrote you a cheque for $2m today, what would be the first thing you would do?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nGautam:<\/strong> <laughs> What would be the first<\/em>\u2026? I think I would take my family on a long holiday. This is more for them than for me. They bear my travels and being away for long periods of time… I think they definitely deserve a break more than I do! I\u2019ll take them to the most exotic place that they can think of and be at their beck and call to do whatever they want to and hopefully spend that money usefully.<\/p>\nPhil:<\/strong>\u00a0Answered like a CEO should \ud83d\ude42<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nGautam: I’ll pass that on to my wife. I think she<\/em> will be very impressed, I don\u2019t know about the rest of \u2018em!<\/p>\nPhil:<\/strong> \u00a0Gautam – you’ve been a great sport! \u00a0Am sure there will be many folks here wishing you all the best in the new role.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0Gautam Thakkar (pictured above) is Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Infosys BPO (Click here<\/a> to read his full bio)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I always like it when the nice guys get the top jobs. \u00a0Too frequently providers put in a suit with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,835,61,838,83,88,836,830],"tags":[346],"ppma_author":[19],"yoast_head":"\n
Welcome to Gautam's city - Horses for Sources | No Boundaries<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n