Infosys has confirmed that its CEO S. D. Shibhulal has requested the board to relieve him in January 2015, ahead of his scheduled retirement, fuelling speculation that the software firm's search for the new CEO is nearly over.

Mr. Shibulal has requested Infosys board to relieve him on January 9, 2015, or when his successor is ready to take charge, whichever is earlier. That date is almost a year before of Mr. Shibulal's scheduled retirement in March 2016.

However, K. V. Kamath, independent lead director at Infosys and chairman of ICICI Bank, said it would take six to eight months to find a successor. But, industry experts are of the view that the company may announce a new CEO within the next three to five months, given the already long-running search process.

Insiders say that Infosys' two new presidents, viz. U. B. Pravin Rao and B. G. Srinivas are the most likely internal candidates for the top post as strong candidates like V. Balakrishnan, Chandrashekhar Kakal, and Ashok Vemuri have already left the company.

If one of the presidents becomes CEO, the company will have to hire a new president to fill the vacant post. Industry experts also say that Rohan Murty, the son of N. R. Narayana Murthy, is an improbable successor to Shibulal, at least till the company's turnaround is complete.

This is going to be the first time that Infosys will likely have a CEO who is not a founder of the company.