Wipro rejigs top level executives, Senior VP Sankaran quits

In a top level reshuffle, software services major Wipro on Thursday appointed Soumitro Ghosh as head of Wipro Infotech replacing Senior VP and Business Head of Global Infrastructure Services Anand Sankaran, who quit the company hours before the rejig was announced.

The city-headquartered firm also appointed Senior VP Shaji Farooq as global head of its BFSI strategic business unit, while, G K Prasanna will take charge as Senior VP and Global Head of Global Infrastructure Services (GIS), which was earlier led by Sankaran.

Farooq has been appointed Global Head of BFSI strategic business unit. Before this he was leading the firm's Advanced Technologies Service Line and Go-To-Market transformation initiatives and will continue to be based in New York, Wipro said in a statement.

He will take over from Ghosh, who will now head Wipro Infotech, the India and Middle East business and will continue to operate from Bangalore, it added.

Prasanna will have additional charge of Senior VP and Global Head for GIS besides his current role as SVP & Global Head for Product Engineering Solutions (PES) at India's third largest software services company.

Jeffrey Heenan Jalil, who has held several leadership roles, including Head of Sales for Manufacturing in Europe, Chief Sales and Operations Head for Europe and most recently, Vice President and Global Head for Telecom Equipment Vendor and Media Verticals, will assume the position of Vice President & Global Head of Advanced Technologies, the statement said.

Stating that Shaji, Soumitro, Prasanna and Jalil will report to Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, T K Kurien, Wipro said these appointments will be effective Jan 1, 2014.

Commenting on the changes, Kurien said: "Our strategy of driving a significantly higher degree of customer engagement and hyper growth has been paying dividends.

"In order to sustain this momentum, our leadership team has spent considerable time reviewing market opportunities, and sharply defining the focus areas that would fuel our growth ambition."

The exercise reaffirms Wipro's conviction in its chosen strategy. The company is committed to better aligning its internal organisation with clients' needs and make investments in driving predictability and automation in the firm's delivery, he added.

Earlier in the day Wipro confirmed the resignation of Anand Sankaran, Senior VP and Business Head of Global Infrastructure Services and Wipro Infotech.

"Wipro confirms that after a sterling career of over 24 years with Wipro, Anand Sankaran, currently Sr Vice President for Global Infrastructure Services and Wipro Infotech, has decided to pursue a career outside of Wipro," it said.

Sankaran took over as head of GIS in 2011 that accounts for over 33 per cent of Wipro's revenues. His immediate plans are not known.