Rishad Premji is Executive Chairman of Wipro Limited, a $10.8 billion global information technology, consulting, and business process services company, with over 230,000 employees in six continents.
Rishad joined Wipro in 2007 and worked in several roles before becoming Executive Chairman in 2019. He started as a general manager in Wipro’s Banking and Financial Services business, went on to head Investor Relations, and then led Wipro’s Strategy and M&A function. As Wipro’s Chief Strategy Officer, Rishad conceptualized Wipro Ventures, a $300 million fund to invest in start-ups developing technologies and solutions that complement Wipro's businesses with next-generation services and products. He was also responsible for investor and government relations for the company.
In his role as Executive Chairman, Rishad works closely with Wipro’s leadership team in providing direction and strategic insight to the business. Rishad believes that the culture of an organization is its strongest asset, and has worked tirelessly to ensure that every Wiproite understands and upholds the values of Wipro, articulated as the Spirit of Wipro.
Rishad is on the boards of Wipro Enterprises Limited (a leading player in FMCG and infrastructure engineering), Wipro-GE (a joint healthcare venture between Wipro and General Electric) and the Azim Premji Foundation (one of the largest not-for-profit initiatives in India). The Foundation, which is focused on improving public school education, works with more than 350,000 government schools across seven states in India.
For financial year 2018-19, Rishad was Chairman of NASSCOM, the trade body representing India’s $245 billion software industry.
Prior to joining Wipro, Rishad was with Bain & Company in London, and also worked with GE Capital in the US in the insurance and consumer lending spaces. He is a graduate of GE's Financial Management Program (FMP).
Rishad has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in economics from Wesleyan University in the US.
He lives in Bangalore with his wife and two children.