The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has named Rishad Premji, Chief Strategy Officer at Wipro, as its Chairman for 2018-19.

Rishad has been a member of Nasscom’s Executive Council and was the Vice Chairman for 2017-18. He will now succeed Raman Roy, managing director, Quatrro Global Services, who served as chairman last year.

Nasscom also announced the appointment of Keshav Murugesh as the Vice Chairman of Nasscom for 2018-19.

"I am honoured to have the vote of confidence of the Nasscom leadership team as we stand on the cusp of a digital transformation. I look forward to working closely with Nasscom’s multiple and versatile teams, and continuing our endeavours to foster growth in changing times," said Premji.

Welcoming Premji as the Nasscom chairman for the year, Debjani Ghosh, President, Nasscom, said: "Rishad is an experienced leader whose accomplishments speak for themselves. With his unique exposure and new age energy, he is uniquely qualified to help lead the industry in a time of change and opportunity. I am confident that this development will benefit not only our organization but the industry as a whole."

In line with the changing industry landscape, the key priorities of the Nasscom leadership will be to re-align and re-calibrate the course of the technology industry, evangelize open innovation across the board, and enable companies to add value across the spectrum for customers globally.

The leadership team will also continue to work towards the skilling and re-skilling of talent as an imperative for the industry.

Another area of focus will be the global free movement of talent, as protrectionism across key markets increases, to proactively dispel the myths about immigration and further embrace new and emerging markets with the intention to foray into newer geographies and domains.