Wipro AGM: Chairman Premji Bets On AI For Growth Strategy In IT Industry

Wipro believes artificial intelligence (AI) will play a central role in the next phase of growth for the IT services industry, with Chairman Rishad Premji saying the company's long-standing understanding of clients' businesses places it in a strong position to help enterprises deploy AI at scale.

Speaking at Wipro's 80th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, Premji said AI is expected to improve operational efficiency while opening up fresh opportunities for innovation and business growth.

He said IT services companies are well placed to guide enterprises through AI adoption because of their deep knowledge of clients' processes, systems and operations, as per a report by Business Standard (BS).

He also noted that the industry has been operating in a difficult environment marked by subdued demand and geopolitical uncertainty, with clients continuing to prioritise cost optimisation even as they invest in AI capabilities.

AGM Highlights: Revenue, Bookings and Buyback

During the AGM, Wipro said FY26 remained a difficult year as customers focused on efficiency and consolidation. Revenue declined 1.6% in constant currency to $10.5 billion, although the company improved its IT services operating margin to 17.2%.

Bookings remained resilient, with IT services bookings rising 14% to $16.4 billion, while large deal bookings reached $7.8 billion, as per Moneycontrol. Wipro also stated that its three-year payout ratio stood at 87.8%, exceeding its stated commitment of 70%.

The board had approved a ₹15,000 crore share buyback in April, the company's largest so far.

Wipro added that its AI strategy is centred on Wipro Intelligence, its unified AI platform, while Wipro Ventures has committed $500 million to invest in startups focused on AI, data and cybersecurity as the company expands its AI ecosystem through partnerships, acquisitions and innovation initiatives.

Sovereign AI Emerges As New Opportunity

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Srinivas Pallia said AI adoption is creating entirely new service opportunities, including sovereign AI, as governments and enterprises seek to deploy AI systems within their own jurisdictions amid geopolitical tensions and growing data sovereignty requirements.

He said Wipro's AI-native business is expanding beyond conventional AI implementation into areas such as small language models (SLMs), AI agents, AI security, responsible AI and services that help clients optimise the economics of AI deployments, as per a report by Moneycontrol.

Pallia added that the company is also working with Wipro Ventures portfolio companies and frontier AI partners to develop industry-specific AI platforms and specialised SLMs.

AI Transforming Operations And Business

The management highlighted how AI is already improving Wipro's internal operations. According to them, activities that earlier required a month to complete can now be finished in five days, while the company's monthly financial closing cycle has been reduced from 24 hours to eight hours.

The company also said most of its workforce has completed advanced AI learning programmes and that it is scaling new AI-focused roles. The management further said AI is reshaping commercial models across the industry.

According to Wipro leadership, the role of IT services is expanding and evolving in the age of AI. AI is driving a shift in commercial models, moving from effort-based pricing to consumption, transaction, and business outcome-based pricing.