Infosys has appointed Salil S. Parekh, an executive with French IT services company Capgemini, as its chief executive officer and managing director after a global headhunt that ended well ahead of the March deadline.

Parekh will assume charge on January 2 next year, replacing interim CEO U.B. Pravin Rao who took over in August at the height of an internal crisis that saw the exit of then CEO Vishal Sikka.

A statement quoted board chairman Nandan Nilekani as saying: “We are delighted to have Salil joining as the CEO & MD of Infosys. He has nearly three decades of global experience in the IT services industry…. He has a strong track record of executing business turnarounds and managing very successful acquisitions.”

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairperson of the Infosys board’s nomination and remuneration committee, said: “He (Parekh) was the top choice from a pool of highly qualified candidates.”