IT services company Wipro has appointed Rishad Premji, son of Azim Premji to its Board of Directors.
The Bangalore-based Wipro has elevated Rishad to the board of directors at a time when rival IT services firm Infosys decided not to bring their co-founders’ family members to their board. Recently, Infosys hired Vishal Sikka, a SAP veteran as CEO, ending the co-founders dominance at Infosys.
The company claims that Rishad Premji, who joined Wipro in 2007, played a critical role in defining the company’s strategy and driving its Mergers and Acquisitions function.
In 2014, he spearheaded the setting up of Wipro Ventures, a $100 million fund focused on investing in new age start-ups building technologies.
Rishad will continue to run strategy and mergers & acquisitions in addition to his new responsibilities overseeing the technology office, investor and government relations, and Wipro Ventures.
These past eight years have given Rishad an in-depth view of the organization and makes him well positioned to guide Wipro and carry the mantle of ownership in the years ahead,” said Ashok S Ganguly, independent director and chairman, Board Governance and Nomination Committee of Wipro.
Prior to joining Wipro, Rishad worked with Bain & Co. for two years, across multiple industries including Consumer Products, Automobiles, Telecom and Insurance. He also worked for four years with GE Capital in the US across several businesses throughout the Insurance and Consumer Lending space.
The Indian IT industry – driven by several family driven companies (Wipro, Infosys (earlier), HCL, etc) are looking for the next action from Wipro. Will Rishad Premji become the next CEO of Wipro?
editor@infotechlead.com
