Leadership
- Wipro Enterprises Board of Directors
- Wipro Infrastructure Engineering Leadership Team
Azim Premji, a graduate in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, USA has been at the helm of Wipro since the late 1960’s, turning what was then a $2 million hydrogenated cooking fat business into the $ 13 billion Revenue global company across IT, BPO, R&D Services, Consumer Care & Lighting and Infrastructure Engineering with a presence in 58 countries.
Premji has been driven by one basic idea – to build an organization deeply committed to Values, with the firm belief that success in business eventually but inevitably follows. Unflinching commitment to Values continues to remain at the core of Wipro. Premji strongly believes that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things when organized into highly charged teams and takes keen personal interest in developing leaders and teams.
Wipro’s business success has been driven by keeping the client at the core of everything it does. Combining its deep expertise in technology with an equally clear understanding of client industries, Wipro attempts to deliver business value to its clients consistently. This consistency is driven by its pioneering efforts in service quality and predictability. The underlying tenets that drive this overall culture are that of speed, simplicity and excellence.
Premji firmly believes that business organizations have a social responsibility not only to employ ethical, fair and ecologically sensitive business practices but also to actively engage with fundamental societal issues. This has led to Wipro’s global leadership in sustainability, and its extensive community and social programs, across the world.
In 2001 Premji set up the Azim Premji Foundation. Over these years he has progressively donated most of his wealth to the Foundation, which is committed to a vision of “contributing towards a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society”. The Foundation has extensive operations of its own and also supports other not-for-profits with financial grants. Its own operations range from improving public school education in multiple state systems (with over 350,000 schools) and running universities, to, public health and livelihoods improvements of the vulnerable. It supports over 1000 not-for-profit organizations that work on matters of equity, justice, and a range of vulnerabilities, through multi-year grants. The Foundation’s endowment is valued at about Rs 240,000 crores or USD 29 Billion (in April 2023).
Over the years, Azim Premji has received numerous honors and accolades, which he considers as recognitions for Team Wipro. BusinessWeek featured him on their cover of the October 2003 issue with the sobriquet “India’s Tech King” and listed him amongst the top 30 entrepreneurs in world history in July 2007. In October 2005, Financial Times included him in a global list of 25 people “dramatically reshaping the way people live, work or think”. Time listed him amongst the world’s 100 most influential people in April 2004 and in April 2011, citing his contribution to improving the public education system in India. He was named by Fortune (August 2003) as one of the 25 most powerful business leaders outside the US, by Forbes (March 2003) as one of ten people globally with most “power to effect change”, and by the Journal of Foreign Policy (November 2011) as amongst the top global thinkers.
Premji became the first Indian recipient of the Faraday Medal and has been conferred honorary doctorates by the Michigan State University and Wesleyan University (in the US), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Roorkee and Kharagpur amongst others. The Republic of France bestowed upon him the “Legion of Honor” and Forbes India honored him with its inaugural “Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year’ award in November 2012. He was conferred in January 2011 with Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award in India. In September 2013 Premji received All India Management Association “Managing India Award” for his inspiring business values and his contribution to society. He was honored with the Asian Business Leaders Award by Asia House (UK) in October 2013. In December 2013, Economic Times bestowed Mr. Premji with Life Time Achievement Award. The Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy was bestowed on him in 2017, hailing the “conscience, integrity, and compassion that have guided his visionary giving…….(with) invaluable benefit to both that nation and to the world.”
Pratik Kumar is a member of Wipro’s senior leadership team, closely associated with Wipro’s growth over the years. He has played a significant role in shaping Wipro into a leading global player over his more than three decades of association with the company.
Pratik assumed leadership as CEO of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering (WIN) in July of 2010.
Pratik has scripted WIN’s journey into new businesses, Industrial Automation, Aerospace and Additive Manufacturing and consolidated its leadership in the existing business of Hydraulics and Water. He has led the company’s expansion into growth markets and geographies. Today WIN has 21 state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities across four continents. In the last 13 years, WIN has acquired six companies and forged a joint venture with Kawasaki.
Pratik spent his initial years at Wipro in the IT business before taking over the mantle of HR leadership of the Corporation in 2002. Under his leadership, Wipro was recognized as the first company in the world to be assessed at PCMM Level 5, the highest maturity level on the SEI framework of Carnegie Mellon University.
Pratik is a member of the Board of Wipro Enterprises Limited and a member of the Group Executive Council of Wipro Group. He is an active member of the various industry bodies.
Pratik is a Postgraduate in Management from XLRI, Jamshedpur.
Rishad Premji is Executive Chairman of Wipro Limited, a $11 billion global information technology, consulting, and business process services company, with over 250,000 employees in six continents.
Rishad joined Wipro in 2007 and worked in several roles before becoming Executive Chairman in 2019. He started as a general manager in Wipro’s Banking and Financial Services business, went on to head Investor Relations, and then led Wipro’s Strategy and M&A function. As Wipro’s Chief Strategy Officer, Rishad conceptualized Wipro Ventures, a $250 million fund to invest in start-ups developing technologies and solutions that complement Wipro’s businesses with next-generation services and products. He was also responsible for investor and government relations for the company.
In his role as Executive Chairman, Rishad works closely with Wipro’s leadership team in providing direction and strategic insight to the business. Rishad believes that the culture of an organization is its strongest asset and has worked tirelessly to ensure that every Wiproite understands and upholds the values of Wipro, articulated as the Spirit of Wipro.
Rishad is on the boards of Wipro Enterprises Limited (a leading player in FMCG and infrastructure engineering), Wipro-GE (a joint healthcare venture between Wipro and General Electric) and the Azim Premji Foundation (one of the largest not-for-profit initiatives in India). The Foundation, which is focused on improving public school education, works with more than 350,000 government schools across seven states in India.
For financial year 2018-19, Rishad was Chairman of NASSCOM, the trade body representing India’s $245 billion software industry.
Prior to joining Wipro, Rishad was with Bain & Company in London, and also worked with GE Capital in the US in the insurance and consumer lending spaces. He is a graduate of GE’s Financial Management Program (FMP).
Rishad has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in economics from Wesleyan University in the US.
He lives in Bangalore with his wife and two children.
Vineet Agrawal was appointed as the head of Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting in 2002. Since 2002, the company has grown steadfast with a presence in 60+ countries, 10,000 + employees globally, with 17 manufacturing locations and 11 R&D centres globally. Its revenue has increased 33-times in the last 21 years. The key brands in consumer portfolio are Santoor, Yardley, Chandrika, Enchanteur, Romano, Bio Essence and Pahnli.
Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting established a global footprint through acquisitions of Unza, Yardley, LD Waxsons, Zhongshan Ma Er, Splash and Canway. This has given the company a strong presence in Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Middle East, South China, and a growing presence in Africa. In India, the company acquired Chandrika Ayurveda soap, North West modular switches and Glucovita in the consumer care space.
Recently Vineet led the company’s diversification into the Foods business with the acquisition of Nirapara (2022), and Brahmins (2023), both being traditional spices and ready-to-cook brands.
Vineet joined Wipro in 1985 from MBA campus in Sales and Marketing function. He is an engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi, and an MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), Mumbai. He was awarded the “Distinguished Alumni” award from IIT Delhi in 2008.
Suresh C. Senapaty is the Non-Executive Director of the company. He has been on the Board of Wipro Enterprises (P) Limited since 2013, and Wipro GE Healthcare Private Limited since 1995. He is also the Chairman of Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and Audit Committee of Board of Directors and a member of Administrative & Shareholder/Investors Grievance Committee of the company. He is a Commerce graduate & a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (FCA).
Senapaty joined Wipro in 1980 after a stint with Lovelock and Lewis (PwC) and headed the finance function of the largest factory then in Wipro in Maharashtra. In 1982, he became the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Wipro Consumer Care, then the largest business of Wipro Limited. In 1992, he became the CFO of Information Technology (IT), the fast-growing businesses of Wipro. In 1995, He became the CFO of Wipro Corporation, heading the Finance function across IT, Consumer Care, Infrastructure Engineering, and Healthcare. He was a Member of the Board and CFO of Wipro Limited till superannuation in March 2015.
He is and has been an Independent Non-Executive Director on the Board of various companies apart from being an advisor to few organizations. He plays an advisory role for Premjiinvest. He is also a Non-Executive Chairman of Best Value Chemicals (BVC), former non-executive Chairman of Honeywell Automation Ltd, Cimplyfive Corporate Secretarial Services Pvt Ltd. He is also the Non–Executive Member of the Boards on ITRAF – International Tax Research and Analysis Foundation, former member of Board of XBRL – extensible Business Reporting Language and Member – IFRS Global Advisory Council, member of Investment Committee of IISc , Member of Advisory Council of Center For Corp Governance and Sustainability of IIMB. He has been on various high level task forces and committees constituted by Industry bodies such as SEBI etc.
Tariq Premji is currently the Non-Executive Director – Wipro Enterprises and the Vice President, Azim Premji Endowment Fund-an entity set up by Azim Premji to fund his philanthropic initiatives. As a founding team member, he has been instrumental in setting up and institutionalising the investment process of this fund.
Prior to this, he was part of the founding team at PremjiInvest, the family investment office, where he now serves on the Investment Committee that oversees the management of the fund. In addition, he serves as a board member of the Azim Premji Foundation, one of the largest operating philanthropic foundations in India. The Azim Premji Foundation works on improving school education working with over 350,000 schools across the country; and runs Azim Premji University, established in 2011.
Tariq has completed his Bachelors in Commerce from Bangalore University.
Sitaram Ganeshan became President and Head of Wipro Hydraulics in March 2023. Prior to his current role, Sitaram held a number of leadership roles with Cummins and also spent time in hydrogen industry manufacturing and selling compressors.
He brings extensive global leadership experience in strategy, P&L, Sales, Operations, Product Management, and Strategic Alliances. He has a global view having spent extensive time in India, Singapore, Germany, England, and the United States.
He is passionate about the intersection of products and markets, expanding the company’s global presence while building high performance teams.
Dr Ranjit Date is the Co-CEO of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering’s Automation Solutions business. An MS and PhD, Ranjit at Wipro PARI is responsible for developing and executing business strategies to achieve annual and long-term business plans, overseeing the company’s business operations, financial performance, investment and growth initiatives and business expansion in India and Overseas.
Before joining Wipro, Ranjit co-founded Precision Automation & Robotics India Limited along with Mangesh Kale and grew the organization as India’s leading industrial automation system integrator for discrete manufacturing. He had the overall responsibility for Strategic Planning, Research & Development, & Customer Relationship Management.
Sundararaman Ganapathiraman is the Co-CEO of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering’s Automation Solutions business – Wipro Pari Private Limited. He is responsible for positioning the company as a key global player in Industrial Automation Solutions.
Sundar is known for his ability to turn around organizations and is responsible for the sectoral & geographical expansion of the Automation & Digitisation business for Wipro.
A Mechanical Engineer from REC Trichy, Sundar has over 34 years of experience in leadership roles across multiple functions. Prior to joining Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, he has worked in Pricol Limited, JCB India, Tecumseh Products, Whirlpool India, and others.
Ronen Givon is the CEO of Wipro Aerospace. He is the youngest son of Ruth and Haim Givon who founded the company more than 40 years ago. He practically grew up on the production floor and joined the company in the early 90s. He has been the CEO since 2006. Together with his father, Ronen grew the company to be Israel’s Number 1 metallic airframe manufacturer and a leading supplier to the global aerospace Industry.
Ronen also serves as the Chairman of the subsidiary in Seattle, WA, USA. Ronen holds a BSc. degree in Computer Science from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.
Nagarajan is Vice President and Head of Wipro Water. He is responsible for leading the business strategy and aligning focus towards defining innovative solutions, creating market niches and operational strategy.
He has over 34 years of experience in the Water Industry.
Prior to joining Wipro Water, he worked in Thermax and Siemens. Nagarajan has contributed to areas of Sales, Exports, Business Development, Projects, Application Engineering at Thermax. As Head of the Water Technologies business of Siemens Ltd., Nagarajan defined business strategy, established operations in India including transfer of technologies, localizing supply chain, and creating business models.
Nagarajan is a Chemical Engineer from BITS Pilani.
Yathiraj Kasal heads Wipro Infrastructure Engineering’s Additive Manufacturing (3D) business. He is responsible for providing overall Business and Technical leadership for Wipro 3D. A Mechanical Engineer by education, Yathiraj has more than 26 years of industry experience in Aerospace and Automotive domain.
Yathiraj has deep technical expertise across the entire AM value chain – from conceptualization to certification. He has been a key contributor in the evolution of AM in India over the years and has 6 patents and 3 trade secrets to his credit. Prior to joining Wipro 3D, Yathiraj has worked in GE, Honeywell, Infosys & TurboTech.
Raghavendran Swaminathan is an accomplished Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with a rich background in global finance and leadership. As a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years of experience, Raghav has played a pivotal role in top transnational companies. Currently serving as the CFO of Wipro Enterprises Ltd., he oversees the financial strategies of the company’s two main businesses: Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting, focusing on Home Care, Personal Care, Lighting, and Food, and Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, providing Hydraulic Solutions, Automation Solutions, Aerospace, Water Treatment and Additive Manufacturing.
Under Raghav’s leadership, Wipro Enterprises achieved significant milestones, including reaching approximately 2 billion USD in FY 23, with more than 50% of revenues generated outside India. Managing over 70 subsidiaries, he led numerous successful initiatives such as multiple M&As, cost restructuring, and joint ventures. Raghav also spearheaded the establishment of 5 new business diversifications and created 2 Corporate Venture Funds for investing in startups. His expertise extends to transformation projects, including cost consolidation, savings, GST implementation, and business transformation in RTM/GTM/Ecommerce.
Raghav possesses a deep understanding of global and technology trends, enabling him to drive policy matters for the group with the government. He serves as a steward for the Board and ensures impeccable corporate governance for Wipro Enterprises. With his extensive experience and strategic acumen, Raghavendran Swaminathan continues to make significant contributions to the success and growth of Wipro Enterprises Ltd.
Vikrant has recently joined to lead the human resources function for Wipro Enterprises which includes Wipro Infrastructure Engineering (WIN) and Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting businesses.
Vikrant comes with 25 years of diverse global leadership experience in Strategic Talent Management, Mergers & Acquisitions, Organization Design, Cultural Transformation & Change Management, D&I, and Leadership Coaching & Development across Services, Manufacturing, Retail and Technology industries. Besides Human Resources, Vikrant has also led roles across Finance & Audit.
With a career spanning L&T, GE Healthcare, Nike, Accenture, HCL, and Harman International, Vikrant has a distinguished track record and is an alumnus of the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune.