Bangalore May 6 2014: The sudden exit of India-born Vishal Sikka, member of the Executive Board of SAP AG and the key architect behind the company's HANA platform, has taken the tech industry by surprise.
A bald statement  yesterday said Dr Sikka ", announced his departure from the Executive Board for personal reasons, effective immediately." The statement also said: " To advance the technology industry’s most successful transition to the cloud, SAP AG today announced the decision of its Supervisory Board to appoint Robert Enslin and Bernd Leukert to the company’s Executive Board."
Sikka   who joined SAP in 2012, joined the company's executive board in 2010.
Western media is speculating that Sikka's utility to the company was tapering off once HANA which he helped create,  was  well established... and other skills would be needed to   grow SAP business around HANA.
But at least one Indian newspaper suggests his departure may be timed to throw in his hat for the post of Infosys CEO that falls vacant  in January 2015