Ever since Abidali Neemuchwala stepped down in January as Wipro's CEO and managing director, the company was on a hunt for a CEO who had a global outlook as well as the ability to handle scale. It seems Wipro has finally found a fit in Thierry Delaporte, a top honcho in French major Capgemini as its Chief Operating Officer (COO).
He has held varied roles in Capgemini across various geographies. With more than 25 years of experience in Capgemini alone, Delaporte has proved his mettle in handling operations at scale.
In an earlier analysis after the exit of Neemuchwala from Wipro, THE WEEK had reported that the Bengaluru-based IT major could hunt for top executives from firms such as Capgemini, IBM, Accenture and Cognizant, where candidates were in ample supply. Delaporte's appointment has come in that direction.
Delaporte, who has a diversified experience across operations, sales, and finance roles in Capgemini, will join Wipro from July 6. His appointment is a positive development for Wipro and it is expected that the company would now aspire to touch a growth rate that has been evading the organisation for quite some time.
Wipro had been craving steep growth even during the tenures of its previous two CEOs–Neemuchwala and T.K. Kurien.
When Delaporte takes charge, one of his major focuses would be to build on the digital business of Wipro that his predecessor, Neemuchwala, was trying to do. He may also try to bring in fresh talent in the company at a senior level to make it more agile and growth oriented.
“Capgemini is 1.9 times Wipro’s size with a similar growth profile. The company's vertical-mix is largely similar to that of Wipro. Delaporte has strong competencies in both sales and delivery with good CXO connect, especially in the financial services segment. New opportunities for growth can emerge for Wipro with increased cloud adoption, automation, and workplace modernisation. Wipro's customers are looking for higher efficiencies. Delaporte can help Wipro steer growth. While growth concerns remain ( due to Covid-19-led disruptions), there is limited scope for margin expansion,” remarked Amit Chandra, Assistant Vice President, IT Research at HDFC Securities.
Experts feel that lately there is an immense amount of uncertainties for Wipro and many other IT companies due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Hence, it would take at least a year and half to see what Delaporte can deliver for Wipro and how soon he will turn around the growth of the Indian IT major.
“Due to the challenging atmosphere, the expectations won't be too high as he will have to steer Wipro through a tough business environment. That won't be easy currently. Not just Wipro, but the entire IT industry is facing a challenging business environment and growth will not return soon. It would be only after the next three or four quarters, Delaporte's performance would start reflecting in the financial results of the company. However, it is great for Wipro to get such a senior executive as it is not easy to get such people. How fast is he able to fit in a traditional Indian set-up being a foreigner needs to be seen,” Alok Shende of Ascentius Consulting told THE WEEK.
As per HDFC Securities, currently, Wipro’s growth will lag within the tier-1 IT companies based on a soft outlook of revenue comprising BFSI, retail, travel, manufacturing and the energy segments. This is expected to be offset by a relatively better outlook in consumer (e-commerce and new age media), healthcare (hospitals) and communication.
