S. Kris Gopalakrishnan

International Board of Governors

Chairman, Axilor Ventures/Co-founder Infosys

S. Gopalakrishnan (Kris), along with N.R. Narayana Murthy and five others, founded Infosys in 1981. Kris served as Director (Technical) and his initial responsibilities included the management of design, development, implementation, and support of information systems for clients in the consumer products industry in the U.S.

Between 1987 and 1994, Kris served as the Vice President for Technical Operations of KSA/Infosys, a joint venture between Infosys and KSA located in Atlanta, U.S. In 1994, he returned to India and was appointed Deputy Managing Director of Infosys.

Before becoming the CEO and Managing Director in July 2007, Kris served as Infosys’ Chief Operating Officer, President and Joint Managing Director, responsible for customer services, technology, investments, and acquisitions.

Recognized as a global business and technology thought leader, Kris was recently voted the top CEO (IT Services category) in Institutional Investor’s inaugural ranking of Asia’s Top Executives and selected as one of the winners of the 2nd Asian Corporate Director Recognition Awards by Corporate Governance Asia. He was also selected to Thinkers 50, an elite list of global business thinkers compiled by Des Dearlove and Stuart Crainer, in association with the IE Business School, Madrid and the London Business School’s Management Innovation Lab.

In January 2011, the Government of India awarded Kris the Padma Bhushan, the country’s third highest civilian honor. He has also represented Infosys and the country in such international forums as: The Indo-US CEO Council; President’s Council of New York Academy of Sciences; and Member of UNESCO High-Level panel on Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equity. Kris is also the Chairman of The Business Action for Sustainable Development 2012 (BASD), a coalition of international business groups committed to sustainable development.

Kris is the Vice President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) National Council and on the Board of Governors at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore. He is also the Chairman of Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management (IIITM), Kerala. He is a member of ACM, IEEE and IEEE Computer Society.