Software services exporter Wipro Ltd said on Friday chief executive officer and managing director Abidali Z Neemuchwala has decided to step down due to family commitments.
The company’s board has begun a search to find the next CEO, Wipro said in a statement.
Neemuchwala will remain the CEO and MD until a successor is appointed, the company added.
Wipro chairman Rishad Premji said that Neemuchwala helped build a “strong execution mindset, drove key acquisitions and scaled our digital business globally” over the last four years.
Neemuchwala had joined Wipro in 2015 as chief operating officer, after working for two decades at bigger rival Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.
The Bengaluru-based software services company had named Neemuchwala as the CEO in January 2016. He was given additional responsibility of managing director in June last year when the company also announced Rishad Premji’s elevation as the chairman to replace father Azim Premji, who decided to retire.
Wipro struck several acquisitions during Neemuchmala’s stint, including a couple of big-ticket buyouts. In February 2016, just days after he took over as the CEO, Wipro decided to take over US-based HealthPlan Services for $460 million (Rs 3,130 crore then). In October that year, the company agreed to buy US-based cloud services company Appirio Inc. for $500 million to strengthen its offerings in new technologies.
The company also sold some of its businesses during his tenure in a bid to sharpen its focus. In 2016, Wipro sold its non-core energy services business to a unit of United Technologies Corp for $70 million. In 2018, Wipro decided to sell its hosted data centre business to US firm Ensono for $405 million.