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I have at least 15 years of working career ahead of me: Suresh Vaswani, ex-Wipro joint CEO

ET Bureau Mar 10, 2011, 10.47am IST

In his first interview since he quit as joint CEO of Wipro in January, Suresh Vaswani denies any ongoing discussions with Microsoft for his next assignment and says software services, cloud computing and outsourcing remain are among areas where he could lead another firm. ET had reported on March 7 that Vaswani is among the candidates being considered for the top post at Microsoft India. Excerpts of an interview.

What opportunities do you see in your career ahead?

Between product and services, the boundaries are merging. With all activity centering around cloud computing, products and infrastructure will also work as a service. A lot of the opportunities that I am discussing are in the IT, BPO and cloud kind of segment. Some of these are India-based, some are not. But I see great excitement in this area because there is a change taking place rapidly. Is my mind open to something outside the IT/BPO space? At least, as of now, I don't have a closed mind. It goes in many different directions, but in terms of opportunity, there is plenty in IT/BPO and cloud.

By when would have made up your mind about what to do?

I am not necessarily in a tearing rush. But over the next four to eight weeks, I think I should have locked into something. After that, I will take a break.

Will you look at an entrepreneurial venture?

Right now, it is an open field. One of the things is a possible entrepreneurial venture. I haven't locked into anything. But the entrepreneurial play is everywhere today. After reaching a certain level, you will not be focusing only on the work but also be thinking of how to scale up the business.

So, it is entrepreneurial in that sense and people give you the flexibility to drive the business. However, no there are no thoughts on starting a venture right from scratch. I have at least 15 years of a working career ahead of me.

Wipro has given a lot of senior leaders to the outside world. Why is the ex-Wipro club so big?

I am too fresh to be in the ex-Wipro club. I was in Wipro for 25 years and I learnt a lot from people who were my peers. I had the opportunity to work with really fantastic teams and most of my learning was from there. There are a lot of things that you learn from your colleagues. You pick up the positives and ignore the negatives. But experience makes you a much more learned man. In terms of knowledge base and experience, the confidence of making it is there.

Now that you are off the hook, do you have a sense of weightlessness?

I haven't felt off the hook yet. I haven't taken a break. I am exploring the world outside, meeting a lot of people. When you are in a company you don't look at too much else. But if I was busy then, I am busy now.