Among the internal frontrunners are Pravin Rao, a long-time Infosys hand named interim chief executive on Friday, and Chief Financial Officer Ranganath D. Mavinakere.
Ranga, as he is known, has been at Infosys for over a decade-and-a-half and holds a degree from the high-profile engineering school, the Indian Institute of Technology, like the founders Murthy and Nandan Nilekani.
The boyish-looking Ranga, 55, who worked closely with Murthy during his second stint as Infosys chairman, may also be able to navigate the tensions between the board and co-founders.
Sikka praised Ranga and highlighted his role in improving cash holdings to more than $5 billion.
Infosys announced last month that it was relocating Ranga to the U.S., where it derives about two-third of its revenues from customers such as Lockheed Martin Corp., Avis Budget Group Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
