Infosys buyback: What if it had not rejected Vishal Sikka’s OpenAI bet in 2015, asks investor

As Infosys weighs a ₹13,560 crore buyback, a post by investment advisor Rajiv Mehta has revived an uncomfortable question: what if the company had backed former CEO Vishal Sikka’s push to invest in OpenAI instead of turning to buybacks?

On X, Mehta reminded followers that in 2015, while leading Infosys, Sikka advocated for supporting OpenAI and explored “productizing” Infosys beyond IT services. His vision, however, clashed with co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, who was skeptical of such moonshot bets. Sikka’s tenure ended in 2017 after a bitter rift, cutting short what he believed could be a transformative pivot for the company.

“Is it better to invest in share buybacks rather than in technology?” Mehta asked, pointing to the irony of Infosys now turning to its fifth buyback since 2017.

On Thursday, Infosys will consider spending ₹13,560 crore on a buyback, its first in three years. The move is reportedly priced at a 25% premium. The company has typically deployed 30% of its cash reserves on such programs, reducing net worth by 14–15% each time. 

Infosys currently holds ₹45,200 crore in cash and equivalents against a net worth of ₹95,350 crore.

The buyback comes at a fragile moment. The Nifty IT index has slumped 21% this year, making it the worst-performing sector as global macro pressures drag down demand. Still, analysts peg Infosys stock at a consensus target of ₹1,743, with the most bullish forecast at ₹2,085—a 45% upside.

Sikka, who later served as an adviser to OpenAI, argued in 2015 that AI would reshape how Infosys builds and maintains software. “Our wish is that OpenAI will do unfettered research in the most important dimensions of AI, no matter how long it takes,” he wrote at the time.