Wipro Transformation In Place, My Main Goal Is Complete, Says Ex-CEO Thierry Delaporte

“My main goal is complete”, Wipro Ltd.’s outgoing Chief Executive Officer Thierry Delaporte said in his parting note to employees, indicating that the job he was brought in to do—transformation by way of tough decisions and acquisitions—has reached a conclusion.

“When I took charge as CEO in 2020, Rishad (Premji) and the board had one main ask of me—to drive the deep, foundational changes needed at the time to turn around Wipro’s market underperformance,” Delaporte said in an email to employees.

“Together with the leadership team, we initiated an ambitious and radical transformation like no other company in our industry has undertaken in the last two decades,” he said. “Now with the foundational elements of the transformation in place, my main goal is complete.”

NDTV Profit has seen a copy of the email.

Delaporte, who took the helm of India’s fourth largest IT services firm in the early days of the pandemic, has resigned “to pursue passions outside the workplace”, according to an exchange filing on Saturday. Srinivas Pallia, a Wipro lifer of 32 years, will now occupy the corner office.

He will stay on till May 31 to ensure a smooth transition. His tenure was to end in July 2025.

In his nearly four-year tenure, Delaporte effected two large-scale restructurings—including one within the first six months—to realign Wipro into four geographically aligned strategic market units and four global business lines, effectively reducing the number P&Ls from 26 to just four.

That triggered a senior-level exodus.

At least 25 senior vice presidents—several of them Wipro lifers—and more than 200 general managers exited the company during Delaporte’s tenure. The exit of long-term CFO Jatin Dalal in September last year capped the exodus. A chief growth office, set up to win large deals, couldn’t win a single contract. Its leader, Stephanie Trautman, too left.

The myriad acquisitions—including the biggest of Capco Inc. for $1.45 billion to make Wipro the Accenture of Indian IT—haven’t paid off meaningfully either.

Still, in the early days of Delaporte’s tenure, Wipro delivered its best ever quarterly results in a decade, riding the pandemic-induced wave of digital transformation deals.

“Together with the leadership team and with your commitment and efforts, Wipro’s revenue has grown by 35% in last four years. We’ve generated 25% more profit than in the previous four years. Wipro’s stock price has grown 2.5X in value during this time! This you can all be proud of,” Delaporte said in the letter.

The company, however, hasn’t seen its top line grow for a year now, even as its peers eked out some revenue in an uncertain demand environment. In fact, Wipro might just shrink in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024. It’s this underperformance, people in the know said, that caused Delaporte to fall out of favour with the promoters.

The post-pandemic period, then, has been one of the worst times for the Premji enterprise.

“Delaporte rarely left his Paris base, while his CEO counterparts have been regularly rallying their troops across India and the US,” Phil Fersht, chief executive and chief analyst at HfS Research said in a blogpost on April 6.

“You can’t run an Indian-heritage business during tough economic times when you’re not physically present to boost morale and represent the firm. Being seen at Davos and not rallying the leadership while the revenues are tanking is not a good look.”

Pallia, clearly, is inheriting the proverbial crown of thorns.

“Srini, one of my strongest leaders in the executive team, and a Wipro veteran who knows the company better than most of us, is the most natural choice to lead this next phase,” Delaporte said in the letter to employees. “Over the next two months, I will work closely with Srini to transition this role, as he prepares to take Wipro to the next level of growth.”

On Monday, Wipro shares fell 1.09% to Rs 479.90 apiece even as the benchmark Sensex ended the day 0.67% higher at 74,742.50 points.