Wipro ready to grab bigger share of IT spend, says Suresh Senapaty

Wipro CFO Suresh Senapaty, as he retired from the country's third largest IT services firm on Tuesday, said the company is ready to grab a larger share of US $8 trillion global IT spending that will rise further.

Senapaty, who retired from the Bangalore-based firm after 35 years, described his journey as "enriching" and "wonderful".

"My time with Wipro has been enriching as well as wonderful. It has been an outstanding place to work, learn and grow," Senapaty told PTI.

The former Wipro CFO added that being able to maintain an optimum capital position for the company was one of his major achievements.

When asked about the changes he has witnessed in the IT services market, Senapaty said, "IT services space has seen so many changes and today the spending is about US $8 trillion and it will rise further. The Indian IT-BPM sector is just US $118 billion. So it has a lot to achieve."

Senapaty said he was leaving the company at a time when it is in a more stronger position to leverage its resources and capabilities to take a bigger share of the global IT services market.

Software services firms need to reinvent their roles and functions to take advantage of the disruptive technologies that are changing the way how companies do business, he said.

"The economy is changing rapidly and now Open Source is being accepted by more and more companies. Internet of Things is a big business opportunity. Also Machine Learning is gaining tractions," the former Wipro CFO added.

All these changes require IT companies to train their staff adequately, make informed investments and also to make strategic agreements and collaborations, Senapaty said.

Senapaty counts his role in Wipro's listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2000 as among his most memorable moments.

"Besides, the demerger of Wipro that was approved in 2013 is also one of the big moments for me here," the executive added.

In 2013, Wipro demerged its non-IT businesses such as consumer care and lighting into a new company and Wipro was to focus exclusively on IT services.

Senapaty's association with Wipro began in 1982, when he served as the CFO of Wipro Consumer Care. He had been the CFO of Wipro since 1995 and also played a major role in the merger of various companies such as Wipro Infotech and Wipro Systems with Wipro Ltd.