Srini Pallia's job as Wipro CEO: Drive growth, stem senior-level exits

Wipro has once again chosen to bet on an insider who has grown through the ranks to lead the company.

Srini Pallia has spent over three-decades at Wipro and it’s the only company he has ever worked with.

Till now, Pallia was heading the Americas-1 unit.

Before Wipro gave the mandate to Pallia, Wipro had ‘outsiders’ as its chief executive for seven years.

On January 4, 2016 Abid Ali Neemuchwala was appointed as CEO. He resigned in 2020, and was succeeded by Thierry Delaporte.

Some of the other insiders who were at the helm of the company include T K Kurien, he joined Wipro in 2000 and took over the helm of the company in 2011.

Before him Wipro had a dual CEO structure under Suresh Vaswani and Girish Pranjape.

According to industry observers Pallia is the best bet for Wipro.

“He is popular with everyone and is considered to be a very straightforward person.

"He has also worked closely with T K Kurien as well as Azim Premji,” said an ex-employee of the company who wished not to be identified.

Pallia joined Wipro in 1992 as product manager and moved to the US in 2000 as general manager, US central.

He went on to manage the enterprise business in the US, where he was VP and global head of the business application services and continued to grow in several roles.

But as he takes over the helm of the company, some of the immediate focus areas for him will be to restore employee morale, stop the senior leadership exodus, and drive growth.

“He needs to nail down his plans quickly, give the firm renewed direction, and convince key stakeholders that he is the right choice during perhaps the darkest period in Wipro’s history,” said Phil Fersht, CEO and chief analyst at US IT advisory firm HFS Research.

Another priority for Pallia would be getting the senior leadership to work together.

With numerous new leaders joining under Delaporte, Pallia must integrate them with Wipro veterans to ensure the company’s growth.