AT THE HELM
AT THE HELM - Srinivas Pallia, MD &CEO, Wipro
- IBJ Bureau
- Jun 03, 2024
Wipro is returning to its roots to steer itself
through stormy times. The fourth-largest Indian software services company has
roped in a veteran insider to head its operations. In April, the
Bengaluru-headquartered information technology (IT) company appointed Srinivas
Pallia as its MD and CEO after Thierry Delaporte quit the top post.
Wipro’s four-year experience with the foreign CEO
has had mixed results. Mr Delaporte did bring in radical changes in the
software services company, which many analysts opine as too many in a
comparatively shorter time. To be fair, Mr Delaporte put in place mechanisms to
push Wipro to the next level. However, things did not seem to go as planned,
and the foreign chief departed 15 months before the end of his five-year term.
In his new role Mr Pallia – who is known as Srini in
industry circles –will continue to be based in New Jersey, the US, and report
to Chairman Rishad Premji. Interestingly, the new Wipro chief was the head of
Americas 1 – the IT company’s largest and fastest-growing strategic market,
including the US – before taking over as the Wipro chief. Mr Pallia’s
appointment signals two key messages. One, the focus, needless to say, will
remain on the US to drive Wipro’s growth. Two, that growth will be driven by
the man who knows the US market like the back of his hand.
Young Srinivas completed his bachelor’s degree in
engineering and a master’s in management studies from the Indian Institute of
Science, Bengaluru. He also graduated from Harvard Business School’s Leading
Global Businesses executive programme and the Advanced Leadership Program at
McGill Executive Institute. Mr Pallia joined Wipro as a product manager in
1992. Since then, he has held numerous leadership roles, including that of president
of Wipro’s consumer business unit and global head of business application services,
among many others.
Throughout his career at Wipro, Mr Pallia – who is
also a member of the company’s executive board – has been overseeing diverse
industry sectors, establishing their vision and implementing growth strategies,
resulting in increased market shares of those sectors. Over three decades of
his career has helped deepen and broaden his understanding about Wipro’s
various geographies, functions, service lines and business units.
Wipro has been passing through a bad time for the
past few years, with its performance lagging behind its industry peers. The
company has been pushed to the fourth place from the third after HCL
Technologies in the pecking order of the top-five Indian IT companies. Besides,
there are concerns about high attrition of its senior leadership over the past
two years.
A slowdown in the major Western markets has roiled
the Indian software services industry quite badly last year. And the situation
does not seem to be getting better this year too. Moreover, artificial
intelligence (AI) holds out hopes to the beleaguered IT industry. The new Wipro
chief has a daunting task at hand to place his company further up in the
pecking order. Mr Pallia incidentally is an avid hiker, and that passion, along
with his rich and diverse experience, could help him get Wipro back its sheen.
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