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Top execs quit Indian offshore outsourcer Wipro
Rumours of boardroom disagreements dismissed...

By Andy McCue

Published: Friday 01 July 2005

Indian offshore outsourcing giant Wipro has lost two of its top executives in the last month.

The resignation this week of chief executive and vice-chairman Vivek Paul follows the exit of Raman Roy, chief executive of Wipro's BPO arm, at the beginning of June.

Paul, who made silicon.com's Agenda Setters 2004 list of the most influential individuals in IT, is moving on to become a partner in US venture capital firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG). Speculation in India suggests Wipro chairman Azim Premji's son may now join the board.

Paul has admitted to disagreements with Premji but said this was not the reason he decided to quit. "The past six years have been deeply fulfilling for me. I am equally excited about my own future, which would involve me helping entrepreneurs and corporations grow rapidly and capitalise on global opportunities. The focus on technology and life sciences fully leverages my background, and the wide footprint at TPG gives me the perfect opportunity," he said.

His exit follows the resignation of Roy as head of Wipro Spectramind, the BPO arm of Wipro, after three years at the company. Roy is now setting up a new BPO start-up focused on clinical drug trials. He claims this will be the next boom area, saying new drugs can be brought to market at one third of the cost and half the time of doing it in the west.

Roy said in a statement: "My stint at Wipro has been one of immense challenges and satisfaction. Having built scale and excellent fulfilment capabilities, it is time that a fresh leadership takes the baton from here on."

Roy has been replaced by T K Kurien as chief executive of Wipro's BPO business.