Wipro Vice-Chairman TK Kurien To Retire On January 31
Kurien was the CEO for five years, before being elevated to the post of vice chairman in 2016.
After a nearly two-decade stint, Wipro Ltd.’s executive vice chairman and board member TK Kurien will step down from his current role on January 31, according to a stock exchange filing by the company.
Wipro had elevated Kurien to his current role in February 2016, when Abidali Z Neemuchwala took over from him as the CEO. Kurien’s new role was to ensure a smooth transition of power to Abidali. He was supposed to be a member of the board till March 31, 2017, however, a “seamless transition” has helped Kurien to advance his retirement by two months, Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro, said in the filing.
TK and Abid have worked together over the past 12 months to complete a smooth and effective transition. In the past year, TK and Abid have charted out a new technology roadmap and further deepened our client relationships besides scaling our big bets in automation, artificial intelligence and digital. This seamless transition has allowed TK to advance retirement from the previously planned date by two months.Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro
Premji also praised Kurien’s contributions to the company and thanked him for his role in scaling up Wipro’s operations.
TK has been an integral part of the organization’s leadership for years. He has played a vital role in building and scaling many of Wipro’s successful businesses besides spearheading our transformation into a future ready organisation.Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro
Kurien had joined Wipro in 2000, and has held various leadership positions with strategic and operation roles in the company. He spearheaded diverse businesses in Wipro including EcoEnergy, Business Process Services, Media, Telecom and Consulting business divisions, over his time at the company. He was appointed as the chief executive officer in 2011 and held the position for the next five years.
Before joining Wipro, Kurien served as the managing director of GE X Ray from October 1997 to January 2000. Prior to that, he was the South Asia chief financial officer of GE Medical Systems.