IT cos set for leadership rejig amid slowdown

Business Dynamics

- Wipro appointed Capgemini veteran Amit Choudhary as COO

- Birlasoft hired Wipro veteran Angan Guha as CEO & MD

- Former president at Infy Ravi Kumar joined Cognizant as president (America)

- Many cos foresee a tough time in 2023

- Most of the leadership changes happening where growth remained below their peer groups

Bengaluru: Several Indian IT services companies are bringing in new leaders in senior roles to push their firms towards high growth trajectory as the world braces for an impending slowdown in coming quarters.

Experts are of the opinion that personal ambitions of senior leaders coupled with the aspirations of companies to emerge as industry leaders are driving this phenomenon.

Recently, Wipro has appointed Capgemini veteran Amit Choudhary as its chief operating officer (COO) and member of the executive board. The company has now reinstated the position of COO, which it discontinued after the retirement of BM Bhanumurthy in July last year. This week, the company had also announced the appointment of Christopher Smith as the Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand.

Similarly, mid-tier IT firm Birlasoft has announced the appointment of Angan Guha as its CEO and MD, effective December 1, 2022. Guha is a Wipro veteran who is joining Birlasoft after serving Wipro for 28 years. He was the chief executive officer for the Americas 2 strategic market unit and served on executive board of Wipro.

In another high profile leadership movement, former president at Infosys Ravi Kumar has joined Cognizant as President, America. Many see him leading Cognizant in coming years as the company continues to struggle on growth front.

"Many of the leadership changes are driven by personal ambitions. Many leaders are preferring to lead tier-II firms than managing big portfolios in large firms. Apart from this factor, many companies in the sector are looking for industry-leading growth. That is the reason that we are seeing leadership changes," said Pareekh Jain, an IT outsourcing advisor & Founder of Pareekh Consulting.

Despite sound performance in the second quarter, the commentary of different companies indicates towards a tough time in 2023. Importantly, most of the leadership changes are happening where growth remained below their peer groups.

"Performance of individual companies is one of the major factors behind leadership changes. If you see, these changes are happening where performance in the second quarter remained below expectations. At a time, when industry growth is likely to moderate, it is important to have the leadership bandwidth for navigating a tough environment," said an industry source. While the pandemic has led to growth opportunities for all companies, normalisation is leading to moderation in growth opportunities. Slowdown in the US and Europe, key markets of Indian IT services industry, is threatening to pull down revenue growth below pre-pandemic level in the next financial year.

"If the slowdown concerns linger, we may see more such changes across the industry," said Jain.

Many of the leadership changes are driven by personal ambitions. Many leaders are preferring to lead tier-II firms than managing big portfolios in large firms. Apart from this factor, many companies in the sector are looking for industry-leading growth

-- Pareekh Jain, an IT outsourcing advisor & Founder of Pareekh Consulting