Wipro revamps media and telecom unit; veteran Ayan Mukerji to leave

Bengaluru: Wipro Ltd restructured its global media and telecommunications business unit and split the nearly $1 billion unit into three different businesses, after the incumbent boss Ayan Mukerji decided to leave from the country’s third largest software exporter.

Significantly, Mukerji becomes the second executive to leave Wipro after the chief business operations officer Satishchandra Doreswamy resigned in March when Wipro undertook its biggest management reshuffle in four years, which included the appointment of a former Tata Consultancy Services Ltd executive Abid Ali Neemuchwala as chief operating officer.

“I’ve had a wonderful stint here at Wipro and now I have decided to move on,” Mukerji told Mint, who declined to give a reason for leaving the firm.

Mukreji’s exit comes at a time when Wipro is looking to extend T.K. Kurien’s tenure as chief executive officer for at least a year after his current five-year term ends in January, Mint reported on 26 October.

Mukerji, who joined Wipro in 1987 as a management graduate from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta, and went on to become the head of Media, Telecom and Product Engineering Services business, reported to Kurien.

A spokesperson for Wipro confirmed about Mukerji leaving the firm but did not share a reason for his exit.

“After a sterling career of over 28 years with Wipro, Ayan Mukerji, chief executive of Wipro’s Media and Telecom Strategic Business Unit & Product Engineering Services has decided to pursue a career outside of the company,” a spokesman for Wipro told Mint in reply to a questionnaire.

Under the new structure, Wipro has now carved out the telecommunications services providers business from the media and telecom division into a separate business unit and tasked senior vice president Anil Jain to steer the business. Further, the company has given N.S. Bala, the incumbent head of manufacturing and hi tech business, with additional role to manage business from network equipment providers. Finally, Srini Pallia, head of retail and logistics business will take on the additional role to oversee Wipro’s clients in Media space.

The new boss of communications business, Jain, will report to Neemuchwala while the heads of two business units, Bala and Pallia, will continue to report to Kurien.

Considering Wipro in the last twelve months has elevated two of its seven business unit heads and two heads from delivery side of business to the rank of president, some believe that the executives who have not have been elevated feel left out.

“Well clearly there seems to be some discontent among executives who believe they should have been promoted but have not been,” said the head of an executive search firm.

However, a senior executive of Wipro dismissed any talk of dissatisfaction among its senior management ranks, saying the company has had a stable senior leadership over the last few years.

“Even after we undertook this big reshuffle (earlier this year), everyone is with Wipro save for two executives. So to relate every management exit because of succession planning or appointment of new COO will be wrong,” said the executive who declined to be named.

Wipro first elevated Anand Padmanabhan, head of energy and oil gas unit, as president, and later elevated two company veterans Bhanumurthy B.M. and G.K. Prasanna to the rank of president. Last month, the company promoted Shaji Farooq, head of banking and financial services business, as the fourth president.