Wipro faces toughest year in FY24, says Chairman Rishad Premji
BENGALURU, INDIA — Wipro‘s Chairman Rishad Premji acknowledged that FY2024 has been “one of the most challenging years” in the company’s history.
In a candid letter to stakeholders, Premji attributed the IT services giant’s toughest year to a volatile global economy that slashed their clients’ tech spending.
“These headwinds, however, have only strengthened our resolve. We remain committed to innovation and are dedicated to investing in our future,” he added.
Revenue decline offset by cash flow surge
Wipro reported revenue of $10.8 billion, marking a 4.4% decrease from the previous year. Net income stood at $1.3 billion, reflecting the tough economic climate and its impact on the company’s performance.
Despite the revenue decline, Wipro saw a slight improvement in its IT services operating margin, which expanded by 50 basis points to 16.1% over FY23. Earnings per share increased marginally by 0.8% year-over-year to ₹20.89 ($0.25).
Notably, the company’s operating cash flow reached ₹176.2 billion ($2.1 billion), a significant 34.9% increase year-over-year, representing 159% of the net income for the year.
Record-breaking deal wins amid challenges
Meanwhile, Wipro CEO and MD Srini Pallia, who took over in April 2024, shared his excitement over the company’s record-breaking deals.
“I am pleased to share that we recorded large deal bookings with a total contract value (TCV) of $4.6 billion. This represents a 17.4 per cent growth from the previous year. For the full year, the TCV reached $14.9 billion,” he stated.
Pallia also highlighted that the firm increased the revenue share from their top five and top ten clients and added three more clients to the “100 million plus dollar bracket.”
Wipro’s strategic shift to AI
Premji highlighted the significant shift in how businesses view AI, particularly Generative AI. He noted that AI has transitioned from a topic of curiosity to a core component of long-term strategies for value creation.
“In FY24, we made a significant investment in our ai360 strategy. Building on our decade-long investments, and with responsible AI at the core of ai360, we are creating an end-to-end innovation ecosystem integrating AI into every platform, tool, and solution used both internally and with our clients,” he said.
Wipro is expanding its partnerships with key players such as Amazon Web Services, Google, IBM, Microsoft, and NVIDIA, as well as its own platforms, through its innovation arm Lab45 and the Wipro Enterprise Generative AI (WeGA) studio.
The company has actively deployed Generative AI across internal processes, driving hundreds of use cases. WiNow, Wipro’s AI-powered enterprise chatbot for self-service, is currently being used by nearly all employees and has served about 6.5 million queries.
“On average, WiNow responds to employees in 6 seconds, significantly improving productivity in critical tasks like approvals and onboarding, as well as reducing cost to serve,” Premji added.
Looking ahead
Despite the challenges, Premji assured stakeholders that the business’s fundamentals remain strong. Clients continue to prioritize digital transformation, leveraging AI to reduce costs, enhance operational efficiency, and drive future growth.
Wipro remains committed to innovation and is dedicated to investing in its future to navigate through these turbulent times.
