New head for Wipro in Continental Europe

Bangalore-based IT services major, Wipro, has recruited Ulrich Meister from T-Systems as Senior VP and Head of Continental Europe, reporting directly to Wipro CEO TK Kurien. Meister joined Wipro last month after a 6 month ‘sabbatical’ from his last role leading T-Systems’ SI business. He had thoughtfully updated his LinkedIn profile presumably while waiting for Wipro to update the management team section of its website.

Meister is the only ‘geo’ head reporting directly to Kurien; Wipro’s UK business – its largest in Europe – is apparently not worthy of any special executive focus. Meister’s brief is broad and challenging: “to … grow the business exponentially over the coming years. … drive marketing and brand investments in the geographies, and explore potential inorganic growth opportunities.” Wipro generated $1.85bn in revenues from Europe over the past 12 months, about 8% higher than the prior 12-month period, and faster than the 5% growth for the whole company. ‘Exponential’ growth should certainly test Meister’s mettle!