Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani Affirms AI-Centric Approach Despite Unresolved Ethical and Intellectual Property Concerns

Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani stated on Wednesday that despite the unresolved ethical and intellectual property rights concerns surrounding the technology, the Artificial Intelligence-first business strategy implemented by Infosys is proving to be successful for the company.

In his speech at Infosys’ 42nd Annual General Meeting, Nilekani said the company can operate more efficiently while nurturing growth readiness, given its performance in challenging scenarios of inflation, interest rates, geopolitics, demand volatility and supply chain disruptions.

“The practical, ethical and intellectual property issues related to AI are still unresolved. We also know that the motto of scaling AI in the enterprise is anything but simple. And yet, the AI-first strategy we are adopting is already working for us,” Nilekani said.

He said the board has approved a dividend of ₹ 17.5 per share, bringing the total to ₹ 34 per share.

“The company has returned approximately 86 percent of free cash flow to shareholders in the four years since FY20,” Nilekani said.

Infosys also said it returned $3.1 billion to shareholders last year, including $1.7 billion in dividends and $1.4 billion through a share buyback program.

Nilekani said the company recruited more than 50,000 college graduates, bringing its total workforce to more than 3.4 million employees, 39 percent of whom were women.

During the general meeting, several shareholders inquired from the board that the company did not enter into a tender for the buyback, which, in their opinion, could have benefited them with a higher return.

In its meeting held on October 13, 2022, the Infosys Board approved the acquisition of equity shares through the open market route through Indian stock exchanges at a price of ₹ 9,300 to a maximum of ₹ 1,850 per share.

The buyback was completed in February at an average share price of ₹ 1,539.06 per share.