Thierry Delaporte, the CEO of Wipro, has resigned. Srinivas Palia, who was the CEO for the company’s Americas 1 region, will takeover as the CEO and managing director from April 7.
Delaporte was appointed as Wipro’s CEO and managing director in July 2020. Before that he was the chief operating officer (COO) at Capgemini. He succeeded Abidali Z. Neemuchwala, who resigned from India’s fourth largest IT services firm in January 2020 citing “family commitments’’.
Wipro said in a regulatory filing on Saturday that Delaporte is stepping down to pursue “passions outside the workplace’’.
“I’d like to express my gratitude to Thierry for his leadership at Wipro. The changes he implemented have better positioned us for the future. We have optimised our structure, enhanced our leadership, prioritised partnerships, and improved our overall efficiency. This provides a strong foundation for Srini to effectively build upon. Thierry will continue until the end of May, working closely with Srini and me to ensure a smooth transition,” Rishad Premji, chairman of Wipro Ltd, said.
“I’m grateful to Rishad and the board for the opportunity to lead Wipro through a period of significant transformation. I am proud of the solid foundation we have laid for Wipro’s future success.
“In the four years we have worked together, Srini has built a successful business in our largest market of Americas 1 and has become an important strategic partner to our clients. As I pass the torch to Srini, I’m confident he’ll continue our journey, steering us to greater heights,” Delaporte said.
Delaporte’s resignation comes at a time Wipro is behind its peers in its growth and margins even as it also saw high profile exits. In September last year, chief financial officer Jatin Dalal, who was with the firm for 21 years, quit to join Cognizant. He was succeeded by Aparna Iyer. In 2019, Wipro had also lost the tag
of India’s third largest IT
services company to HCL Technologies.
During the third quarter ended December 31, 2023, Wipro’s revenues had dropped to Rs 22,205.1 crore from Rs 23,229 crore in the same period of the previous year and Rs 22,515.9 crore in the July-September 2023 period. Net profit declined to Rs 2,694.2 crore against Rs 3,052.9 crore in the year-ago period. Operating margins was a stable 16 per cent during the quarter.
Rival HCL Technologies saw its net profit rise over 6 per cent to Rs 4,350 crore for the October-December 2023 period, while its revenues grew 6.5 per cent.
After his arrival at Wipro, Delaporte revamped its operating mode and structure. He replaced the various Strategic Business Units (SBU), geographies and service lines with four Strategic Market Units and two Global Business Lines.
