Coforge appoints former Bharti Enterprises vice chairman Akhil Gupta as chairman
Gupta’s appointment as Non-Executive Independent Director is effective September 29 for a five-year term, subject to shareholders’ approval.
In just a fortnight following the announcement of a search for its new chairman, Noida-headquartered Coforge has announced Akhil Gupta, the former Vice Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, as its new non-executive Chairman. Gupta, an industry veteran who also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of 360 ONE WAM Ltd and Bharti Life Insurance Ltd, is also a member of the boards of companies such as Zepto, Snapdeal, Eutelsat Communications and Lodha Developers.
Gupta’s appointment, effective September 29, 2026, is for a five-year term and is subject to shareholders’ approval. The company, in a late-night exchange filing on Monday, said that following a “rigorous and intense global search process” and starting out with a list of 60 candidates, the choice of Gupta was unanimous, with all members of the NRC and Board finding him to be the ideal choice. “We worked assiduously to ensure that all aspects of NRC and Board processes were complied with as we assessed an exceptional palette of candidates,” said Vivek Sharma, Non-Executive Director and interim Chairperson, in a company statement.
Following the resignations of the two independent directors, Coforge’s board representation of independent directors fell below 50%. Out of the seven directors, three are independent, two are Advent nominees and two are executive directors. Even though interim Chair Vivek Sharma is classified as an independent director, he also serves as Senior Advisor for AI at Advent.
On Gupta’s appointment, Sudhir Singh, CEO and Executive Director, said that his experience at Bharti Enterprises and navigating business shifts make him an ideal fit as the IT industry pivots in the AI era. “We are excited at the immense opportunities ahead of us and thrilled to have a person of his calibre and governance experience join us as the Chairperson of the Board,” Singh said in a statement by the company.
Given the developments at the company’s board in September, Coforge’s one-month share price on the BSE has taken a battering, with the stock down 10.86% during the period. Executive search firm Egon Zehnder has been mandated to find two independent directors to fill up the vacant board positions. Most brokerages have discounted the resignations as an indication of serious governance lapses, given that the company has maintained its annual growth and margin guidance targets, stating that the developments had nothing to do with the company’s financials or business.
Following the company’s investor call to clarify the developments, Indian brokerage firm Motilal Oswal Financial Services, in a note, stated that board composition would now be a key monitorable. Its note on Coforge said that while the eventual composition of the independent director pool, the nomination process and the choice of permanent Chairperson should provide greater clarity on how the board will function following the recent changes, “we believe any future divestment in Advent’s stake is likely to be accompanied by a corresponding change in board representation. We expect this transition to play out over the medium term, with the company’s management of the resulting board churn remaining a key monitorable,” the note dated September 15 stated.