Interview: Wipro a 'bit more' optimistic about next fiscal year due to AI

Highcom

17/01/2024 15:39

By Divya Chowdhury and Savio Shetty
       DAVOS, Switzerland Jan 17 (Reuters) - Wipro is feeling a
"bit more" optimistic about its next financial year as clients
spend more on artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce operating
costs, the head of the Indian IT firm's Americas 2 business told
Reuters on Wednesday. 
    "Most client conversations are about cost-saving efforts and
there is a conversation every time about AI," Suzanne Dann said
in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland.
    "Many of them are still transforming to cloud and now they
recognise the advantage of AI and add components to improve
productivity." 
    Americas 2 encompasses banking, insurance and Canada, and
accounted for around 30% of Wipro's overall revenue in
October-December, the third quarter of its financial year. 
    Wipro, India's fourth largest IT firm, is having a tough
year. Last week it forecast constant currency revenue this
quarter within a range of down 1.5% to up 1.5%, indicating
full-year revenues could fall for the first time in three years.
    In the same interview, Americas 1 CEO Srini Pallia said 2024
would be the "pivotal year" for clients implementing generative
AI technology, adding growth in the AI category would probably
resemble the hockey stick-shape forecast by analysts at Gartner.
 
    Americas 1 covers retail, healthcare, transportation and
Latin America, and accounts for nearly a third of Wipro's
revenue.
    The Times of India this month reported that three internal
candidates, including Pallia and Dann, were being groomed to
succeed Wipro CEO Thierry Delaporte.
    Pallia dismissed this as "speculations". 
    Asked about Wipro's lack of $500 million-plus mega deals
this fiscal year, Pallia said some large outsourcing contracts
were broken into smaller contracts won by several IT firms,
adding the company had a "good pipeline".
    Wipro's Chief Growth Officer Stephanie Trautman, who headed
the large deals team, resigned in December.
    (Join GMF, a chat room hosted on LSEG Messenger, for live
interviews: https://lseg.group/3TN7SHH)      

 (Reporting by Divya Chowdhury in Davos and Savio Shetty in
Mumbai
Additional reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B in Bengaluru
Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((saiishwarbharath.b@thomsonreuters.com;))