Davos 2023 | On recession, Wipro's Rishad Premji feels there's more of cautious optimism

There is more of cautious optimism in the air amid fears of a global recession, with hope for a short-lived recession in the US, Wipro Executive Chairman Rishad Premji told CNBC -TV18's Shereen Bhan on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"I find there's still uncertainty in the environment, but there's more cautious optimism and I'm using the word more purposefully intentionally. So that's one big change. The other thing I find is the environment is less sombre than I expected. People are more hopeful of how things will come back. People are more hopeful about the recession in the US perhaps or the slowdown in the US being more short-lived, people are a little bit more certain about Europe, but I also find it very contextual to companies and the companies within those countries and within those specific industries having very different journeys," Premji said.

"So, when I talk to stakeholders here, some people are having a good run in Europe, some people are struggling in the US, which is counter to where the macro environment looks, but (it’s) generally more cautious optimism and a less sombre feeling that perhaps one felt before coming here," he added.

Commenting on Wipro's record total bookings of $4.3 billion in TCV terms, Premji said, "It is very encouraging that deals are transacting on scale. (There are) A couple of changes in the nature of deals, one I think - deal making is a little bit more cautious so people are taking a little bit more time to make decisions but yet deals are transacting which I think is incredibly positive."

"The other big change is the focus of where deals are moving to, which I think is more cost based, more cost transformative, which I think is incredibly powerful. So the good news is there's deals transacting and hopefully that should show up in business over the next several quarters."

"We had more followers than we anticipated back in December. Some of that perhaps will continue as you move into December. So there's a slow pick up, slow pick up back in January than you would have normally had in a less uncertain year. But the good news is deals are transacting and customs are still making strong, relevant decisions for their future."

"I think there's also a stronger orientation to ROI. So on investments that customers have made over the last two years, perhaps in a certain state of euphoria, they are demanding and saying, look, how do I make sure that I get returns for that investment. So there's a huge focus on optimisation of spend which also helps partners like us very well because our role as a value orchestrator is to bring together the stuff that you have in the old legacy organisation and the new stuff you're buying and how to make sense of it all to actually drive business outcomes."

Premji believes that Wipro has had a decent financial year 2022 and he has a strong, well settled team that is focused on the market and transacting.

"Yes, we're not going as fast as competition, but I think we're having a decent year. If you look at our order booking over the first nine months, it's 20% plus compared to last year. So all the lead indicators I think are powerful. I think we have the right leadership team which is settling in well. I think attrition levels are coming down dramatically, which is helping. So I'm quite optimistic and excited," he said.