Rendezvous with Wipro’s President and CHRO, Saurabh Govil on How Wipro Leverages HR Tech for digital transformation, and agility
Saurabh Govil is the President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Wipro Ltd. He is also a member of the Group Executive Council, a forum for the core group of Wipro leaders to deliberate and strategize the long-term vision of the corporation.
He is also a trustee of the Wipro Foundation, a not-for-profit trust that contributes to education, community service projects and social development.
Prior to joining Wipro in 2009, Saurabh held leadership positions in organizations like ITC and GE. Saurabh is an alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur where he completed his Masters in Human Resources.
Q1- How do you foresee the key challenges and opportunities shaping the IT industry in 2025, and what strategic role will HR play in addressing them?
World economy is undergoing dynamic changes. At the same time, technology development is outpacing the ability to consume the advancement.
Just as we were becoming familiar with AI paradigm, disruptors like DeepSeek emerge with potential to alter the AI landscape. Such disruptions are expected to become the norm for industry. AI and automation will continuously transform the future of work and the capabilities needed in the workforce.
We anticipate an increased integration of AI in the flow of work. For instance, at Wipro, we encourage associates to leverage AI powered assistants for productivity. As firms increasingly adopt AI, cybersecurity risks will need to be mitigated.
The IT industry remains divided over remote working, hybrid working, and onsite work arrangements. Work models will evolve, with each firm adopting what best suits them. Evolving work models will present opportunities and challenges in leading a distributed workforce. Digital workplaces will lead to increased cyber risks.
HR will have a pivotal role in shaping the talent strategy with evolution of work, workforce and workplace. Capability building will be center stage as firms navigate the new landscape of technology and talent. HR, as change agents, will be instrumental in landing the above changes productively, for the business.
Q2- How is Wipro leveraging HR Technology to drive digital transformation and enhance workforce agility in an ever-evolving tech landscape?
Wipro has always been a digital-first organization. Today, we are building an AI powered Wipro. We have built industry’s first employee experience platform, the dot, integrating our diverse workforce, in a modern hybrid work arrangement.
WiNow, our Generative AI digital assistant is a productivity boost for our associates, addressing 20K queries and transactions, every day, in an associate’s ‘flow of work’ and ‘on demand,’ 24×7 365 days.
Today, every touchpoint of an associate’s lifecycle is technology led. Associate feedback at every moment that matters is used to shape future experiences. Our goal is to use technology as a hyperscaler to deliver a consistent and unparalleled employee experience, while enabling associates to spend their time on value added work.
Technology aids like CoPilot and GitHub further enable associates to do their best work while generating value for the business. We have crowdsourcing platforms, internally at Wipro (TopGear) and for anyone (TopCoder) to leverage a gig framework for ideas and innovation as they problem solve.
Apart from generating business value, gig platforms enable associates to build and sharpen their skills, contributing to projects of their choice, outside of their scope of work.
We have leveraged collaboration and technology to improve the (work) life of Wiproites. Personalization, with technology, hand in hand with in-person interactions, will help develop a sense of belonging amongst associates at Wipro.
Q3- What impact do AI and automation have on Wipro’s HR processes, from recruitment to performance management, and how are they redefining the employee experience?
Automation and AI are embedded in all moments that matter, in an associate’s lifecycle. Our automated onboarding enables engagement with candidates by nudging interactions, much before their start at Wipro. As we speak, we are piloting AI led interviews for our selections.
WiNow, our Generative AI digital addresses associate queries and enables them to do transactions, on the go. Wally, is our performance management assistant, enables completeness of appraisals for associates and reminds people leaders to do comprehensive assessments and forward-looking conversations.
iAspire, our AI powered career management, combines associate aspirations and capabilities to recommend career paths and development interventions for an associate’s growth.
Our people operation’s team is using AI to streamline repetitive processes and exploring the use of AI agents for work that requires cross referencing between processes. Our endeavor is to integrate AI in the flow of work to enable superior outcomes for our associates.
Q4- What strategies does Wipro implement to strike the right balance between technology-driven HR processes and the human touch in employee interactions?
Our endeavor is to use technology (and AI) to ensure our associates spend their time in meaningful work that leverages their capabilities and enables their growth.
Technology, amongst others, will address non-value added (often repetitive) work; nudge to drive new behaviors aligned to the future of work and workplace; enable personalization and thereby empowering people leaders to engage in meaningful coaching conversations with their associates.
The examples I listed in the previous question, serve as a foundation and enabler for superior people leadership. Technology can ensure a fuller and comprehensive performance conversation, but it is not a substitute for the conversation itself.
While it can help set sharper goals and metrics, people leaders play a key role in aligning an associate’s goals with organizational outcomes and periodic review of progress.
Similarly, people leaders conduct career conversations with associates, even when career paths may be AI recommended, and it is the combination of technology and human interaction that enables achievement of aspirations.
While technology complements the process, human interaction drives the connection. Technology, hand in hand with person-to-person interactions, will lead to building of connections and a culture of belonging amongst associates at Wipro.
Q5-Any Final Comments
AI is redefining the future of work. We will see wide ranging adoption of AI, across industries and functions. As the future of work evolves, the workforce, and workplace will evolve.
Leaders, including HR Leaders, will play a significant role in directing this change to deliver value for both the business and the associate.
Thanks Saurabh for Insights!
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