Coforge Ltd. named former Bharti Enterprises vice‑chairman Akhil Gupta as its new chairperson on Tuesday, September 29, and the stock closed unchanged at 0% on the NSE. Gupta’s five‑year mandate comes after a global search process and a unanimous decision by the board and Nominations Committee, according to a Coforge filing.
Gupta currently chairs 360 ONE WAM and Bharti Life Insurance and sits on boards of Zepto, Snapdeal, Eutelsat Communications and Lodha Developers. His experience across telecom, retail and digital media is seen as a strategic fit as Coforge pivots toward AI‑driven services.
The appointment follows a turbulent period for the company: former chair OP Bhatt resigned in September and independent director D.K. Singh stepped down shortly after, citing board‑evaluation discrepancies highlighted in a KPMG audit. Coforge dismissed the audit’s findings as “unfounded” and a “post‑hoc” excuse, but the resignations have left the board in flux.
JPMorgan’s research team keeps an Overweight rating on Coforge, with a ₹1,850 price target. The brokerage noted that filling the chair position ahead of schedule gives the firm a window to appoint another independent director within the three‑month window previously mentioned, and expects investor attention to shift to core performance metrics.
Looking ahead, Coforge’s focus will likely sharpen on AI‑led growth, the integration of Encora, and the five‑year strategic roadmap. The company has not yet released quarterly guidance, but analysts anticipate that the new leadership should accelerate progress on these fronts and potentially lift the stock above its current flat trajectory.