Bengaluru, April 6 -- Wipro Ventures' new co-managing partner Ali Wasti is expected to drive a deeper focus on artificial intelligence at the $500-million corporate venture arm of Wipro Ltd.

The investment firm recently appointed Wasti, a veteran investor in deep-tech startups, to replace Venu Pemmaraju, who retired from the company last week.

San Francisco-based Wasti was previously with Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where he was senior managing director and global head of investments at Pathfinder Ventures, HP's venture arm.

In his new role, Wasti will work alongside Biplab Adhya, Wipro Ventures' co-managing partner who has been with the investment firm since it was started a decade ago. Although Wasti joined Wipro Ventures in January,...