Source: ET Bureau
The 42-year-old Wipro scion has been instrumental in acquiring new-age companies to transform its identity as a digital technology services provider.
Rishad Premji became chairman of Wipro on Wednesday, taking over from father Azim Premji in a low key handover at the company.
The senior Premji will continue to be on the board of Wipro. Rishad takes control at a time when the Bengaluru based company has penciled in slower growth at the beginning of the fiscal year and amid uncertainties over profitability.
The 42-year-old Wipro scion has been instrumental in acquiring new-age companies to transform its identity as a digital technology services provider.
Analysts said Rishad has an uphill task to get the company back on track to achieve industry-leading metrics and needs to ensure better coordination between the management and promoter group.
“He should look at driving growth in IP-led revenue and keeping in sync the focus of the owner and the management,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief executive, Greyhound Research.
In fiscal year 2019, Wipro grew 5.4%, losing the third slot to rival HCL Technologies. In comparison, Infosys pulled in 9% and TCS posted 11.4%. HCL reported a 14% year-onyear increase in revenue, partly led by acquisition of some IBM products.
Given its weakness in the first quarter, the Wipro management led by Abidali Neemuchwala — who also took additional charge as MD on Wednesday — and Rishad Premji will have to pull out all stops to match or cross last year’s pace during the rest of the year. As the Premji scion takes charge, he will look to spearhead four key growth areas, as promised by Azim Premji in his final letter to shareholders and employees two weeks ago.
“We have sharpened our strategy into four pillars based on what our clients need i.e. Business Re-imagination, Engineering Transformation and Modernisation, Connected Intelligence, and Trust…we have been investing significantly in four areas – Digital, Cloud, Engineering Services and Cyber Security,” Azim Premji said in the letter.
