Building AI-powered Wipro with human-centric approach: Rishad Premji

New Delhi: IT company Wipro is continuously making efforts towards maximising AI's potential and placing a human-centric approach at the forefront of AI development, company's Chairman Rishad A Premji said.

Addressing the company's 78th annual general meeting on Thursday, Premji said artificial intelligence is central to the company's growth strategy, and an "AI-powered Wipro" is on the way.

"There’s been a significant shift in how businesses perceive AI, especially Generative AI. What was once a topic of curiosity has now become a cornerstone of long-term strategies for creating value. AI presents a distinct opportunity to reshape industries, reimagine experiences, enhance efficiencies, and foster innovation. Our goal is to lead this transformation for our clients as well as within our own organization," he said.

The company continued to make significant investments in its ai360 strategy throughout FY24, he said.

"We are building an AI-powered Wipro, embedding responsible and secure AI into every solution, tool, and process across our organisation. We have broadened our strategic partnerships with leading AI players, such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon and NVIDIA. Additionally, we’ve launched our own AI platform through our innovation arm, Lab45, to speed up AI adoption," Premji said.

He further said Wipro has partnered with academic institutes like IIT and IISc because developing talent is a crucial and key element for the success of company's AI strategy.

"These partnerships are helping us drive research, strengthen the AI talent pipeline, and upskill our workforce. We have trained over 225,000 employees, including me, in GenAI fundamentals. An additional 30,000 employees have received advanced training tailored to their specific roles," Premji added.

He said Wipro has incorporated Gen-AI in its internal processes to boost productivity.

"For example, WiNow, our AI-powered enterprise chatbot for self-service is used by nearly all our employees, and has processed around 6.5 million queries. This has significantly boosted productivity in crucial tasks like approvals, onboarding, and other administrative functions," he said.

Widespread AI adoption demands strong change management and a commitment to inclusivity, he added.

Wipro has adopted a human-centred approach that will help it bridge the gap, build trust, and maximize AI’s potential, he said.

He also shared that the IT firm has increased the number of women in senior leadership by 240 per cent.

Wipro is set to announce its financial results for June quarter later in the day.

It had reported 7.8 per cent year-on-year decline in consolidated net profit for March quarter FY24 to Rs 2,834.6 crore, and gave a revenue growth guidance of 0.5-1.5 per cent for June quarter FY25 on a constant currency basis.

For the full year FY24, revenue from operations came in at Rs 89,760.3 crore, 0.8 per cent lower than the previous fiscal. Net profit fell 2.6 per cent to Rs 11,045.2 crore.

"FY24 has been challenging for us as a company. The global economic fluctuations this past year have affected our clients’ technology spending and led to uncertainty in market demands. However, despite these challenges, I believe the fundamentals of our business remain unchanged, and we remain fully committed to investing in our future," Premji said.