BS People: Shaji Farooq

Farooq jumps ship to Wipro

Wipro Technologies, which is undergoing a series of changes, both in strategy and in leadership, recently announced the launch of a new business wing termed ‘advanced technologies’. As the company is battling to regain its glory in the information technology (IT) services arena, it has to sharpen its focus on mobility, cloud and analytics, and there could have been few better ways to do it than luring Shaji Farooq, an Infosys veteran, a holder of 40 patents and a thought leader and innovator in IT.

In his new role as senior vice-president and global head for advanced technologies at Wipro, Farooq will handle the company’s newly created advanced technologies service line, which will comprise social media, mobility, analytics-as-a-service and cloud.

The company, which lacks its peers’ expertise in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) segment understands that BFSI, capital markets, and retail will drive the adoption of analytics and cloud. According to information available on Infosys’ website, Farooq’s expertise spanned business and IT strategy, business process redesign, and value management, with a focus on financial services.

Farooq holds an MBA in finance from the Stern School of Business at NYU, a PhD in engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. With his experience of around 20 years, he was managing senior client relationships in the US for Infosys before this.