Wipro CEO Delaporte resigns; to be replaced by veteran insider
Technology
Wipro CEO Delaporte resigns; to be replaced by veteran insider
BENGALURU (Reuters) - Wipro (WIPR.NS), opens new tab Chief Executive Officer Thierry Delaporte resigned on Saturday following a fraught few years for India's No. 4 IT services company, to be succeeded by the head of its biggest market.
Srinivas Pallia, a veteran of the company, will take over as CEO and managing director from April 7, Wipro said in a statement, adding Delaporte was leaving to "pursue passions outside the workplace".
The Bengaluru-based software services exporter has had a turbulent few years, with its operating model changing twice in three years, several top-level departures, and some expensive acquisitions that did not translate to growth.
Delaporte, whose five-year term was originally set to end in July 2025, said that he was "proud of the solid foundation" he had helped to lay for Wipro.
Some industry watchers did not share his assessment of his time at the helm.
"He was not spending nearly enough time visiting his teams in India or the U.S. The morale at Wipro was at an all-time low," said HFS Research founder Phil Fersht.
Wipro is likely to be the only one of India's top four IT firms to end the most recent fiscal year with a drop in revenue.
Pallia, who joined Wipro in 1992, was the right choice to succeed Delaporte, said Ray Wang, principal analyst and founder of Constellation Research.
"Pallia is the best bet they have right now and they will have to work hard to bring back (the) good people who have left and develop the next generation of Wipro," he added.
He takes over at a time when the company and the larger $254 billion Indian IT industry grapples with weak client spending amid inflationary pressures and economic uncertainty in key markets such as the United States and Europe.
