Wipro Ltd, one of the top five IT companies in the country, has appointed senior vice president Shaji Farooq as the global head of its banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) vertical.
The announcement come after the exit of company’s computer infrastructure chief Anand Sankaran last week. After serving the company for 24 years, Sankaran decided to pursue career outside Wipro.
Farooq, who is leading the company’s Advanced Technologies Service Line and Go-To-Market transformation initiatives, will take over from senior vice president Soumitro Ghosh, who will now head Wipro Infotech.
TK Kurien, CEO and executive director, Wipro, said, “Our leadership team has spent considerable time reviewing market opportunities, and sharply defining the focus areas that would fuel our growth ambition. The exercise reaffirmed our conviction in our chosen strategy. We are committed to better aligning our internal organisation with our clients’ needs and to make investments in driving predictability and automation in our delivery.”
BFSI is the largest vertical in the IT sector and the biggest contributor to revenues. Farooq will continue to be based in New York.
A Wipro veteran of 25 years, Ghosh has played varied roles, including his current position as the global head of BFSI. Ghosh will now power the India & Middle East businesses to maintain Wipro’s leadership position in these markets. Ghosh will continue to operate from Bangalore.
GK Prasanna will take charge as senior vice president and global head for Global Infrastructure Services (GIS) in addition to his current role as senior vice president and global head for Product Engineering Solutions (PES). Prasanna, who has been with Wipro for more than 25 years, was the head of Wipro’s Technology Infrastructure Services business between 2000 and 2009.
Jeffrey (Jeff) Heenan Jalil, who has held several leadership roles, including head of sales for manufacturing in Europe, chief sales and operations head for Europe, and most recently, vice president and global head for Telecom Equipment Vendor and Media verticals will assume the position of vice president and global head of Advanced Technologies.
Farooq, Ghosh, Prasanna and Jeff will report into Kurien. These appointments will be effective from January 1, 2014.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)