Wipro appoints Capgemini’s Thierry Delaporte as new CEO, MD

Thierry Delaporte (File photo)
BENGALURU: Wipro said it has appointed Thierry Delaporte as its chief executive officer and managing director to replace outgoing Abidali Neemuchwala. Delaporte, who was the chief operating officer of Capgemini, becomes the second member from the French IT giant to head an Indian IT services provider after Infosys CEO Salil Parekh.

Delaporte was also the member of Capgemini’s executive board and during his 25 year stint with the company, held several leadership roles including CEO of its global financial services strategic business unit and head of all global service lines. He also oversaw the company’s India operations which will become crucial in his new role at a time when Indian IT companies face prolonged business uncertainty due to the outbreak of Covid-19.

"l am delighted to welcome Thierry as CEO and managing director of the company. Thierry has an exceptional leadership track record, strong international exposure, deep strategic expertise, a unique ability to forge long-standing client relationships, and proven experience of driving transformation and managing technological disruption. We believe that Thierry is the right person to lead Wipro in its next phase of growth," said Wipro chairman Rishad Premji.

Neemuchwala, who stepped down from the helm in January after a near-four year stint, will relinquish his position on June 1 and Premji will oversee the day to day operations till July 5. Neemuchwala joined Wipro in April 2015 as the president and chief operating officer, after a long stint at TCS.

Delaporte, who will be based out of Paris and whose contract runs for five years, will take up the mantle from July 6. He assumes responsibility when Wipro has for years lagged behind larger rivals like Infosys, TCS and HCL in terms of revenue growth. Neemuchwala faced a challenging time at Wipro where client bankruptcies and restructuring of businesses in Middle East and India often took the sheen off the many acquisitions that were made under his watch.

"l am deeply honored to be invited to lead Wipro, an extraordinary company and an exemplary corporate citizen with a deep technology heritage built on a strong foundation of values. I look forward to working closely with Rishad, the Board, senior leadership and the hugely talented employees of Wipro to turn a new chapter of growth and build a better tomorrow for all our stakeholders,” Delaporte said in a statement.

Separately Wipro also appointed Deepak Satwalekar as an independent director to its board effective July 1. Satwalekar, who was the managing director of HDFC Ltd and MD and CEO of HDFC Standard Life Insurance, replaces former SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya who is stepping down at the end of June. Bhattacharya has already been appointed the chairperson and CEO of the Indian operations of software company Salesforce.