Encora, one of the world’s largest IT consultancies, has brought tech industry veteran Anand Birje aboard as CEO.

Birje was earlier an executive at HCL Technologies, one of the relatively few players in the IT consulting market with a larger headcount than Encora.

Arizona-headquartered Encora helps companies build custom software and modernize legacy IT systems. In 2021, the consultancy sold a majority stake to investment firm Advent International, which proceed to launch a major growth initiative.

Encora had about 6,300 employees when Advent International become its largest investor. Two years later, the company is up to 9,000 employees.

Its sales have grown nearly as fast: Encora claims to have achieved a compound annual revenue growth rate of 46% over the past three years.

Incoming CEO Anand Birje is no stranger to leading fast-growing IT services firms. He was earlier the head of HCL Technologies’ digital business services group, which is the fastest-growing division within the company.

Earlier, Birje was a founding member of another HCL Technologies division called the infrastructure services group. That group reached $2.5 billion in fee income less than a decade after launch.

Encore competes with HCL Technologies in many areas. However, it has a somewhat different go-to-market focus.

Most of Encore’s fee income comes from providing IT consulting services to large SaaS firms, midsize tech companies with up to a few thousand employees and traditional enterprises. The employees who deliver those services operate out of more than 40 offices worldwide.

“”I am thrilled to join Encora, one of the world’s fastest growing digital engineering services companies,” Birje commented. “As new and emerging digital technologies transform the global economy, there is a growing need for technology partners with mastery across technical, strategic, and industry-specific domains

Birje is stepping into the shoes of Encore’s founding CEO, Venu Raghavan, who will remain at the company as chairman following the leadership change. Birje is set to start his first day on the job next week.

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