Wipro appoints Thierry Delaporte as CEO and MD

Wipro has appointed Thierry Delaporte as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the company, effective July 6.

Until recently, Thierry Delaporte was the Chief Operating Officer of Capgemini Group and a member of its Group Executive Board. During his 25- year career with Capgemini, he has held several leadership roles including that of Chief Executive Officer of the Global Financial Services Strategic Business Unit, and head of all global service lines. He also oversaw Capgemini’s India operations, and led the group’s transformation agenda, conceptualizing and driving several strategic programs across various business units.

The current CEO & MD of Infosys, Salil Parekh is also from Capgemini. He was the company's deputy CEO and member of the group management board before moving over to Infosys.

“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 Rishad Premji, Chairman, Wipro Limited.

“I want to thank Abid for all that he has done for Wipro and for making this transition as smooth and seamless as possible despite his personal commitments.”

Abidali Neemuchwala will relinquish his position as CEO and MD on June 1. Rishad Premji will oversee the day to day operations of the company until July 5.

“Wipro is 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.

He will be based in Paris and report to Chairman Rishad Premji.

Thierry has a Bachelor’s degree in Economy and Finance from Sciences Po Paris and a Masters in Law from Sorbonne University. He is also the co-Founder and President of the not-for-profit organization Life Project 4 Youth.

New Board Director

In another development, Deepak M Satwalekar has been appointed as an independent director on the board of Wipro for five years.

Satwalekar is a former Managing Director of HDFC Ltd and subsequently the Managing Director and CEO of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co. Ltd. He has also been a consultant to the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT).

He is also a recipient of the ‘Distinguished Alumnus Award’ from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay and is currently the Chairman, Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Management, Indore.