Indian software giant Wipro has once again demonstrated its knack to allure top talent from rival companies. This time Wipro has hired senior Infosys executive Shaji Farooq as the global head for its new technology areas.

Ten-year Infosys veteran Mr. Farooq has accepted the role of the Senior Vice-President at Wipro. He will lead the company’s newly created ‘advanced technology’ services and ‘go-to-market transformation’ businesses. He will report directly to Wipro chief executive T. K. Kurien.

K Sudarshan, of executive search firm EMA Partners, said, "Companies like Wipro and Infosys have home-grown talent but they are competitors in global markets and in today's markets, firms are looking at proven resources.”

A spokesperson for Infosys declined to comment on Mr. Farooq’s departure, saying the company doesn’t comment on individual movements.

Educated at IIT-Bombay and Stern School of Business (SSB), Mr. Farooq had been serving Infosys as a senior vice-president in the banking and financial services vertical, which accounts for around 35 per cent to revenues.

Mr. Farooq’s departure will be a great loss for Infosys, which has not been performing well for around a year. Its banking and financial services vertical has remained sluggish over the last one year. The departure may destabilize the recovery efforts at Infosys.

Last year, Infosys suffered the departure of its sales chief Subhash Dhar and human resources (HR) chief Mohandas Pai.