Sad, disappointed. Wipro must regain intolerance toward losing great talent: Former CFO Suresh Senapaty

In his letter of resignation addressed to CEO Delaporte, Dalal that he is “eager to pursue” his professional goals outside of the organisation.

Suresh Senapaty, former board member of Wipro and one of Azim Premji’s most trusted advisors, expressed his personal disappointment at CFO Jatin Dalal’s abrupt exit, urging the IT firm to work harder to retain talent.

In an unusually candid statement that Senapaty sent to Moneycontrol, he said, “Jatin's departure is sad and disappointing to me personally. I am sure he has chosen a career for him where he can contribute far more. A huge loss of talent for Wipro.”

He further said, “According to me, Wipro must regain its intolerance towards losing great talent by working deeper in understanding of its talent repository. That’s critical for regaining its success trajectory of growth, which has been subdued compared to industry for quite some time now.”

“I wish Jatin all the success and Wipro, which has very deep talent. Congratulations to Aparna (Aparna Iyer the new CFO) a great talent and wish her all the best,” he added.

Also Read: Who is Aparna Iyer? Here’s all you need to know about the gold medalist, now Wipro CFO

These remarks assume significance because this is the first time that a top leader of Wipro has spoken out about the company’s senior management attrition and slowing growth, especially in the last few years since Thierry Delaporte took charge as CEO. It’s also important because Senapaty is one of Wipro’s most senior leaders, having been associated with the firm since 1980 and is a key lieutenant of its promoter Azim Premji.

Prominent voice

He is still associated with Wipro at multiple levels. He’s been on the board of Wipro Enterprises since 2013, and Wipro GE Healthcare since 1995, and also plays an advisory role in Premji Invest, the investment arm. 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 his retirement in March 2015.

His remarks came after Dalal quit as CFO on September 21, with the company stating that Aparna C Iyer would succeed him from September 22. In his letter of resignation addressed to Delaporte, Dalal that he is “eager to pursue” his professional goals outside of the organisation. The announcement set off disquiet amid analysts and company trackers, several of whom say such a move was unexpected. Dalal was well entrenched in the system and was perceived as a Wipro lifer.

Gloomy outlook

Wipro’s revenue growth in constant currency on a year-on-year basis has fallen steeply since Q4Fy22, and the guidance for the quarter ending September 30 also does not inspire confidence, with the company expecting CC revenue growth between -2 percent and 1 percent in Q2. Margins too have been a pain point for Wipro, which are among the lowest when compared to its peers and is slightly above Cognizant’s. While it has managed to keep it above 16 percent for the last three quarters, the company’s aspiration is a level above at 17 percent.

While these business challenges have continued to plague Wipro in an unfavourable demand environment, what is perhaps more concerning is that this is the ninth top-deck exit in this calendar year alone from the Bengaluru-based company, and the fourteenth since September 2022. With the company's performance continuing to struggle versus its peers, questions are now mounting on whether Delaporte will get a second term. The CEO’s current five-year term ends in July 2025.

After Wipro’s first reorganisation post Delaporte taking up the top job, the Times of India reported in January 2021 that it led to the exits of 75 senior VPs and VPs. There has been a steady stream of exits at the company ever since. To stem such attrition, Wipro in January 2023 said it promoted 61 people to the position of vice-presidents and 12 as senior vice presidents, taking the total number of VPs and senior VPs to 275, which was the highest number of VP promotions the company has ever made.

It did yet another reorganisation effective April 2023, splitting the business into four business lines from two, following which Rajan Kohli, President of the iDEAS (Integrated Digital, Engineering, and Application Services Business Line) business which brought in significant revenue from the company, also exited.

In Wipro’s Executive Board of 11, six have joined and taken up their positions post February 2021, additionally raising concerns whether the newer entrants know the business well enough.

(With inputs from Haripriya Suresh)