Narayana Murthy
Chairman
Infosys
Infosys is looking to expand its presence in France. What makes France such an attractive investment?
France has lots of good things in its favor. It is the fifth-largest IT market in the world. It is known for its excellent talent pool - particularly in high-tech sectors, thanks to its Grandes Ecoles and its focus on advanced industries. And of course it also has a strong base of Global 2000 customers.
Therefore France is clearly an important market and any company that intends to grow globally has to have its focus on France.
How does being in France help your business?
France is one of the G7 countries. It has tremendous influence in Africa and in parts of Asia. And France is a premier member of the EU. Therefore succeeding in the EU and in Francophone countries becomes easier if we succeed in France.
Does the current economic climate help your business in France?
Relatively speaking, France has not been hit that badly by the economic downturn, compared with the UK for example. It's in times like these that companies look to acquire or consolidate a comparative advantage. We believe that we bring competitive advantage to our customers via our global talent pool, our expertise in a lot of different investor vehicles, our ability to partner up with customers across geographic boundaries.
These are some of the key strengths which we bring. And in this time of globalization, some of the larger French customers are clearly looking for partners that can help them: not only in France or in specific markets, but globally. So yes, I think that this downturn has in a way been a boon for us. We believe that our mindset with certain large customers has significantly increased, and we expect that to drive a lot of business.
What changes have you noticed in France since you first came here in 1989?
There have been a lot of positive changes. France has become more and more globally integrated. It has a vibrant economy and there is much greater cooperation between France and Asia, particularly China and India. France has also become much more open in the last 10 years or so. There is a greater focus on inviting companies to invest in France, there is a greater focus on integrating with the global economy.
As French companies become increasingly global, a lot of them are investing far away from Europe, which probably wasn’t the case 10 years ago. And that’s where it opens up opportunities for companies like us.
Is France a more attractive place to invest today than it was before?
France is an important IT market. It is a place where it has become much easier to do business. It is a pivot in the EU. It has enormous influence in terms of other Francophone countries. It has a very productive and very advanced talent force.
If you look at all these things, France has definitely become a lot more attractive today than it was before.
How would you characterize the French labor force?
It’s probably one of the most productive workforces that we have. They bring an extraordinary amount of talent and innovative thinking. At Infosys, while we want to become global, we still have a large percentage of Indian employees. Our strategic objective is to have an increased percentage of non-Indian workers. Bringing French employees into the global fold enables us to learn and to revitalize our own thinking: about our global delivery model, how we need to change, etc.
Leveraging French employees is also useful for delivering other European projects: for example, we use a lot of our French employees to deliver projects in Switzerland or in Germany, etc. So we also consider our French employees as a talent pool, allowing us to build up a base in France but also to service customers in other countries. We’re doing projects in Ghana and Nigeria where we are actually using some of our French consultants.
You have described France as being at the cutting edge of technological innovation in Europe. What makes French technology special?
France is a leader in transportation, particularly in train technology. It’s a leader in airplane technology. It’s a leader in high energy physics. It’s a leader in nuclear physics. It’s a leader in nuclear energy. It’s a leader in satellites. It’s a leader in numerical control.
There are many areas in which France is clearly the leader. Each one of these areas requires tremendous application of ideas to make companies working in those areas more efficient, more productive and more customer-friendly. That provides us with a great opportunity to make French companies even more efficient and productive than they already are and to add value for their customers, not just in France but throughout the world.
The third “Brazilian Investors’ Club” summit, organized by the IFA, was held at the prestigious Palais Brongniart on December 13, 2011.