Infosys wants its employees to think like entrepreneurs. But so far, it is mainly the senior personnel who have stepped up their efforts.
The country’s second largest IT services company has launched an in-house incubator to generate new business ideas, promising funding, mentoring and potential cash rewards. The initiative has attracted attention, but most of the ideas for choice come from intermediate and senior staff.
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According to the “Is the Navigator Business Incubator” initiative launched on December 26, 2024, Infosys received 700 submissions and has been shortlisted for 100 ideas. Mint.
The program is open to all employees and aims to develop scalable products for customers. Infosys positioned it as a way to drive growth and innovation, although it seems to be an attempt to make its 320,000 employees more attractive.
Most selected ideas (23) fall under ADM (application development and maintenance) (heavier coding areas). Other powerful themes include engineering and global delivery.
However, most of the ideas are those of intermediate and senior staff. Of the 100 selected ideas, 84 were from employees ranked JL5 to JL7, while entry-level employees (JL3 and JL4) contributed only 4. Most recognized ideas are derived from Infosys employees in India and the United States, which are the two largest locations in the company.
In an internal memo sent to employees on March 26, Infosys said: “As part of the quote phase from March 21 to April 4, 2025, the Idea team will connect with senior Infosys leaders who will become their idea coaches and are committed to improving their ideas and propositions.”
Those selected for full implementation will be transferred to the incubator role full time and receive up to $2,000 ( ₹Infosys once said 1.7 million in the reward).
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Infosys will provide the necessary software, hardware and marketing for projects moving forward through the pipeline. However, intellectual property rights (IP) rights will belong to the company and the inventors are recognized under Infosys’ policies. Employees who exit the program will be required to comply with the standard exit policy.
The incubator program is coming as Infosys seeks a fresh source of growth. The company ended last year with $18.6 billion in revenue, up 1.9% from the previous year, despite its operating margin dropping 30 basis points to 20.7%. More than a quarter of its revenue comes from banking clients, making the industry the biggest contributor.
Infosys did not respond to a request for comment.
Currently, Infosys provides customers with five software platforms. The idea of successfully passing the research and implementation phase will be added to this portfolio.
Although the plan encourages internal entrepreneurship, its impact will depend on implementation.
Although Infosys has previously encouraged internal entrepreneurship, it marks its first formal incubation program.
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In July 2014, the then Ceo Vishal Sikka was launched Murmuring to yourselfa crowdsourcing program designed to solicit business ideas from employees across departments and levels. The effort attracted 2,700 submissions, of which 10 have been implemented. but Murmuring to yourself Focus on selling ideas to customers, Become a Navigator Aim to develop mature business products in Infosys.
Whether this latest initiative translates into meaningful revenue or is still a meaningful experiment – will depend on execution.
