Ctrl+Alt+Del @ Wipro

New CEO Abidali Neemuchwala is creating a startup culture at the IT major to regain market leadership and, more importantly, keep up with the times.

- Harichandan Arakali

Leadership, especially when large teams are involved, is often about constructive confrontation. And that is the approach that Abidali Neemuchwala has embraced at India’s third-largest software services provider. The freshly- minted CEO wants to break down walls, knock heads together and get Wipro’s 170,000-strong workforce cracking on solutions clients will not be able to ignore. This translates to less rigidity in hierarchy and fewer silos, but a flat organisation where people are unafraid to step on each other’s toes. It also means the writing is on the wall for those who’re unable to adapt. After all, at stake is the company’s reputation. And it has some salvaging to do.

There is little doubting Wipro’s stature in India’s IT firmament. It has played its part in building the outsourcing sector into a multi- billion dollar industry that employs millions. However, it has lagged its peers for several years now: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has pulled away to become the clear leader by revenue and US-based Cognizant Technology Solutions, which has most of its delivery centres in India, has left Wipro behind as well. Also, rival Infosys is showing signs of handling its own troubles by embracing Artificial Intelligence and design thinking as the way forward.

Contrast this with Wipro’s string of middling to slightly-disappointing results which have continued in the quarter ended June 30, 2016 when the company saw its profits fall and, worse, forecast that it won’t grow in the following quarter either.

To appreciate the pecking order, and the shift in fortunes, consider this: For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010, Wipro clocked revenues of about $6 billion; TCS was barely ahead at $6.34 billion and Infosys was behind at $4.8 billion. Cut to FY2016 and Wipro’s revenues were $7.7 billion, whereas Infosys had moved to $9.5 billion and TCS raced ahead to $16.5 billion.