Rishad has new ways of thinking, experience and competence; will lead Wipro to greater heights, says Azim Premji

New Delhi: Wipro is making a significant investment in digital, cloud, engineering services and cybersecurity as the company aims to outshine its previous performance, its founder and outgoing chairman Azim Premji said Tuesday.Premji will pass the baton over to his son Rishad in July-end after leading the charge at the company for over five decades. He will continue to serve on the Board of Wipro as Non-Executive Director and Founder Chairman.[caption id="attachment_29971" align="alignleft" width="380"] A file photo of Azim Premji. Reuters[/caption]In his address at the AGM, Azim Premji said, to lead in this time of rapid change, Wipro has sharpened its strategy into four pillars based on clients' need—business re-imagination, engineering transformation and modernisation, connected intelligence, and trust."In order to build the capabilities that are needed to deliver these strategies, we have been investing significantly in four areas—Digital, Cloud, Engineering Services and cybersecurity," he said.Premji noted that while the company is investing in new capabilities, it also strive to remain lean and cited the example of divesture of Wipro's data centre business in FY19 that improved the return on capital employed.

"Wipro will continually transform to scale new heights as the world changes while remaining firmly committed to its values. I am confident that the future of Wipro will far outshine anything that we have done before," he said.

Premji reminisced Wipro's journey from a small vegetable oil company to a leading information technology company. "...we have evolved by constantly re-inventing ourselves and creating newer opportunities. This has been possible because of the dedication and hard work of Wiproites, and our absolute commitment to our Values, which we call the Spirit of Wipro," he said.On Rishad succeeding him, Premji said he has new ways of thinking, broad experience, and competence that will lead Wipro to greater heights."He has been an integral part of the leadership team since 2007, and has a deep understanding of the company, its business strategy, its culture and its heritage. He is also completely committed to the values which form the bedrock of Wipro," he added.The company has also announced that Abidali Neemuchwala will be the Managing Director of Wipro Limited from 31 July 2019, in addition to being the Chief Executive Officer. Further, after an association of nearly two decades with Wipro, Narayanan Vaghul and Ashok Ganguly will retire from the Wipro Board as of 31 July. Arundhati Bhattacharya, former SBI Chairperson, will join Wipro Board as a Non-Executive Independent Director.