Nasscom appoints Raman Roy as chairman, Rishad Premji vice-chairman

Quattro CMD Roy is popularly known as the pioneer of BPO industry

IT services industry body Nasscom on Wednesday appointed Raman Roy, chairman and managing director of Quatrro, as its new chairman for this fiscal.

Roy, who is popularly known as the pioneer of business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, will take over from C P Gurnani, MD and chief executive officer of Tech Mahindra.

Nasscom has also appointed Wipro's chief strategy officer & member of the board Rishad Premji as the vice-chairman for 2017-18. Both the leaders will take up office from April 6.

"Raman is an industry veteran and has been the catalyst of its exponential growth in the last few decades. We are sure to gain huge insights from his wealth of experience on global and domestic markets," said R Chandrashekhar, President, Nasscom.

The Nasscom president bestowed his faith on Wipro scion as the vice-chairman, "A new age leader like Rishad, with his vast exposure, will bring fresh ideas to the table, helping the industry tap new domains and opportunities globally."

Indian IT services industry is passing through a tough time due to decline in traditional business. Proposed reforms in H1B visas, which is used by IT firms to send software engineers on projects, in the US and protectionism in other markets may add to the woes. The industry body said it would focus on highlighting the need for skilled labour mobility in the wake of protectionism towards outsourcing talent across different business regions.

"Chairman Raman Roy along with vice-chairman Rishad and President, R Chandrashekhar will lead Nasscom to carry out its diverse array of priorities to enable it in achieving the 2020 vision for the industry, including showcasing the importance of global skilled labour mobility, navigating new policy requirements and evangelizing skilling and re-skilling of talent, to help continuity of business," said the industry body in a statement.

"It is a great honour to be given this opportunity at a time when industry is at the next phase of its maturity and evolution. Nasscom is playing a critical role in evangelizing the digital opportunity for the sector and I would like to support the industry in facilitating the skilling and reskilling effort of the industry through disruptive models," said Roy.