Abidali Neemuchwala: Wipro’s Preeminent CEO

Abidali Neemuchwala: Wipro's Preeminent CEO

Wipro, an Indian multinational corporation headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka, India, provides information technology, consulting and business process services.

The brand leading the IT industry, Wipro, was initiated as Western Indian Palm Refined Oil, by Mohamed Premji on 29 December 1945 in Amalner, Maharashtra. In British India, the brand traded under various names of Kisan, Sunflower, and Camel.

While the company got entrusted to the Stanford University returned Azim Premji in 1966 after Mohamed Premji's death, the company shifted its attention towards the IT industry in the 1970s and 1980s.

In India, the industry was in a nascent stage and hence on June 7th, 1977, the name of the company was changed to Wipro Products limited, from Vegetable Products Limited. The brand name once again remodelled from Wipro Products Limited to Wipro Limited in 1982.

The brand has been led by CEO Abidali Neemuchwala, an Indian-American business executive. Wipro has been recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, strong commitment to sustainability and good corporate citizenship.

The brand harness the power of cognitive computing, hyper-automation, robotics, cloud, analytics and emerging technologies in its products and services. The brand has been dealing in personal care, health care, lighting and furniture products along with the digital strategy, IT services, consulting, outsourcing, and managed services.

Born on December 8, 1967, Neemuchwala served the brand as group president mad chief operating officer (COO) from April 2015; He took over the responsibility of CEO with effect from February 1, 2016.

Having served the information technology industry with TCS, Neemuchwala spearheaded several initiatives that helped create a more nimble and agile organization and accelerated Wipro's ability to not only respond to customers in the digital age but also ensure deeper employee engagement being a part of Wipro.

Belonging to the small city in Madhya Pradesh, Abidali gets his surname from his hometown of Neemuch. With his early life and education in Delhi, Neemuch and Mumbai, the business leader has a keen interest in travelling, Indian music, reading fiction, and playing golf.

He holds a Bachelor's in Engineering (B.E.) degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Raipur, and a master's degree in Industrial Management from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. After completing his graduation from IIT Bombay, Neemuchwala joined Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 1992.

He dedicated 23 years of this life working with TCS finally rising to the head of business process services.  He under the guidance of the then CEO of TCS and current chairman of Tata Sons, Natarajan Chandrasekara, and Neemuchwala was instrumental in turning around the fortunes of TCS BPO. His working style is often compared to that of Chandrasekaran.

The business leader has been recognized and awarded the BPO CEO of the Year in 2010 and 2012. At TCS, Neemuchwala was responsible for over 12 percent of the company's revenues. He was honoured by the Shared Services Organisation of IPQC for his contribution to the industry.

Succeeding T.K. Kurien, the former CEO and executive director of Wipro, Neemuchwala has been dedicating his efforts towards the company growth.

He has been overseeing the $8 billion in revenue and more than 160,000 employees serving clients across six continents as Wipro's CEO. He helped the brand land its largest deal in history with a $1.5 billion, 10-year contract with Alight Solutions.

Following the retirement of Azim Premji, the leader was appointed as MD (Managing Director) of Wipro on July 31, 2019. He is now an integral part of the board of directors of Wipro Limited and the World Affairs Council of Dallas Ft. Worth. He also serves on the CEO Council of the Texas Economic Development Corporation.