MAM
Pepperfry onboards Naveen Murali as VP and head of marketing
Mumbai: Homegrown furniture and home products marketplace Pepperfry continues to strengthen its leadership team as it announced the appointment of Naveen Murali as vice president and head of marketing.
In his new role, Murali will lead Pepperfry’s marketing and brand strategies with an aim to drive brand awareness across lucrative untapped markets as well as capture a share in the furniture and home décor industry.
As a new-age marketing evangelist, Murali will work towards charting out a strategy that helps to break the barriers that consumers have towards shopping online, especially for big-ticket items, said the company.
Commenting on the appointment, Pepperfry co-founder & CEO Ambareesh Murty said, “Our mission is to spark a feeling called home across India and I am confident that Naveen’s addition to team Pepperfry will help expand and accelerate our marketing agenda towards cementing our leadership of India’s home and living market.”
Murali has extensive experience of over ten years in marketing, sales and building business competencies. Prior to joining Pepperfry, he was associated with brands like Asian Paints and Oracle across business and marketing roles.
He is an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode and holds a degree in Engineering from NIT Warangal.
Commenting on the new role, Naveen Murali said, “Pepperfry has transformed the way Indians shop for furniture and build their dream homes. Over the years, Pepperfry has secured a significant consumer mind share in the country. I am super excited to work towards enabling Pepperfry to further increase this share and build an unrivaled brand of the future.”
Brands
Wipro hires 7,500 freshers, withholds FY27 hiring outlook
Profit rises to Rs 3,522 crore, Rs 15,000 crore buyback announced.
MUMBAI- Hiring may be on, but visibility is off, Wipro is adding talent even as it pauses the crystal ball. The company hired 7,500 freshers in FY26 but stopped short of offering any hiring outlook for FY27, underscoring the uncertainty gripping the IT services sector as it pivots towards an AI-led operating model.
The disclosure came alongside its fourth-quarter earnings, where management flagged volatile demand conditions and refrained from committing to future workforce expansion. Chief human resources officer Saurabh Govil noted that over 3,000 of the total hires were onboarded in the March quarter alone, signalling continued intake despite a lack of clarity on deployment pipelines.
This divergence active hiring without forward guidance reflects a broader industry pattern where talent acquisition continues even as deal conversions remain uneven and client spending cycles stretch. Wipro expects its IT services revenue for the June quarter to range between a decline of 2 per cent and flat growth sequentially in constant currency terms, reinforcing near-term caution.
Chief executive officer Srini Pallia pointed to artificial intelligence as both a disruptor and an opportunity. He said evolving client priorities are pushing the company towards outcome-driven engagements, with Wipro increasingly focusing on a services-as-software model through its AI Native Business and Platforms unit. The shift marks a structural change from traditional headcount-led growth to AI-enabled delivery frameworks.
The company has already committed over $1 billion to its AI ecosystem, with investors closely watching how these investments translate into revenue. For now, the numbers present a mixed picture. Net profit rose sequentially to Rs 3,522 crore, while revenue grew 3 per cent to Rs 24,236 crore. However, core IT services performance remained under pressure, with full-year revenue declining 0.3 per cent in dollar terms and 1.6 per cent in constant currency.
Large deal bookings offered a counterpoint, rising 45.4 per cent year-on-year to $7.8 billion, highlighting a widening gap between deal wins and actual revenue realisation. On a quarterly basis, IT services revenue slipped 1.2 per cent sequentially, signalling continued softness in execution.
Margins, however, told a more optimistic story. Operating margins expanded to 17.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, up from 14.8 per cent in the previous quarter, reflecting improved cost discipline. That said, the company cautioned that upcoming wage hikes and the ramp-up of large deals could exert pressure going forward.
Attrition stood at 13.8 per cent in the March quarter, indicating stabilisation after periods of elevated churn. Alongside its earnings, Wipro also announced a Rs 15,000 crore share buyback, reinforcing its focus on shareholder returns, with a payout ratio of 88 per cent over the past three years.
Taken together, the numbers capture a company in transition investing in AI, maintaining hiring momentum, but navigating a demand environment where growth is uneven and visibility remains limited.
