Cognizant Appoints Ravi Kumar S as Chief Executive Officer

• Former Infosys President brings 20+ years of experience in the consulting, process, and technology transformation space to CEO role

• Stephen J. Rohleder appointed Chair of the Board

• Leadership transition supports initiative to accelerate growth

• Company updates fourth quarter and full-year 2022 guidance

Cognizant announced that its Board of Directors (the “Board”) has named Ravi Kumar S as CEO and a member of the Board, effective immediately. Kumar succeeds Brian Humphries in both roles. To facilitate a smooth transition, Humphries will remain with the Company as a special advisor until March 15, 2023.

Kumar joins Cognizant after a 20-year career at Infosys, where he held various leadership roles, most recently serving as President from January 2016 through October 2022. In this role, he led the Infosys Global Services Organization across all global industry segments, driving digital transformation services, consulting services, technology services, engineering services, data & analytics, cloud and infrastructure, and enterprise package applications service lines.

The Company also announced that Stephen J. Rohleder, a member of Cognizant’s Board since March 2022, has been elected Chair of the Board. Former Chair Michael Patsalos-Fox will remain on the Board as an independent director. Rohleder joined the Board in March 2022 as part of the Board’s ongoing Board refreshment process; during the last three years, the Board has added three new independent directors.

Rohleder brings decades of experience overseeing operations, developing strategy, counseling clients, and growing teams in the technology space, gained from his 35-year tenure in senior roles with Accenture, where he served as Group Chief Executive, North America, Group Chief Executive, Health and Public Service and Chief Operating Officer, as well as his roles as Chairman and CEO of GTY Technology Holdings.

Cognizant had previously announced that Kumar would join the Company as President, Cognizant Americas. In connection with the CEO transition, Cognizant also announced that Surya Gummadi has been named President, Cognizant Americas. Gummadi, a 24-year veteran of Cognizant, had held the role on an interim basis since July 2022 and previously served as SVP of Cognizant’s Health Sciences business segment.

Read More: SalesTechStar Interview with Joe Dillon, Executive Vice President of Sales at Baffle

Leadership Commentary

“The Board is focused on positioning Cognizant to reaccelerate growth and drive shareholder value,” said Chair of the Board Stephen J. Rohleder. “As a proven leader with deep experience developing global talent and building a culture of success, we believe Ravi is the right person to take Cognizant into its next phase of growth. He brings world-class expertise in consulting, process, and technology transformation as well as demonstrated success building businesses. We are highly confident he can build on Cognizant’s portfolio of in-demand solutions, strong brand, and significant international expansion opportunity to unlock enhanced performance and growth.”

Rohleder continued, “Brian was a resilient leader, providing a steady hand as he steered the company through various challenges, including a global pandemic. We thank Brian for his many contributions to Cognizant, which have helped to position the company to capture a large, growing market and fuel profitable revenue growth. We believe now is the right time for new leadership to fully capitalize on these opportunities.”

“The Board also wants to thank Michael for his leadership during his time as Board Chair. Michael’s dedication to Cognizant, including his unwavering commitment to our mission and our shareholders and other stakeholders, has set a strong example for me and the rest of the Board,” Rohleder concluded.

Humphries said, “I am proud of our team’s achievements during my tenure as CEO. Our brand is more visible, our portfolio is stronger, our client relationships are more consultative and we are better aligned to high growth digital segments within our market. The company is in a great position for success. It was an honor to lead our talented associates and I wish Ravi and the leadership team all the best for the future.”

“I am honored to join Cognizant, a company I have long admired for its dedicated client focus and its track record of innovation,” said Kumar. “I look forward to working with Steve, the rest of the Board, and the leadership team to capture the many opportunities ahead. I have watched Cognizant fundamentally transform its business, expanding its digital portfolio and capabilities, strengthening client relationships and partnerships, and meaningfully enhancing operational discipline. Cognizant is well-positioned for growth, and I’m excited to unlock the Company’s significant potential for our employees, clients, investors, and other stakeholders.”

Read More: Open, but Back to Normal? Insights from Location Intelligence Reveal How Consumer Behavior Has Changed Across Industries

Additional Biographical Details about Ravi Kumar

Kumar has over 20 years of experience in the technology consulting space, incubating new practice lines, driving large transformational programs, and developing new business models across industry segments. Based in New York City, Kumar served as President at Infosys until October 2022. In this role, he led the Infosys Global Services Organization across all global industry segments, driving digital transformation services, consulting services, technology services, engineering services, data & analytics, cloud and infrastructure, enterprise package applications service lines. In addition, he led the Business Process Management (BPM) Unit and was Chair of the Board of Infosys BPM Ltd. He has overseen Infosys business operations in India, Latin America, Japan and China. He has also overseen the Infosys Public Services and Infosys Consulting Services Subsidiaries. In addition, Kumar championed and pioneered Infosys’ localization initiatives and built technology and digital talent pools in US, Europe & Australia to drive the creation of new Innovation and Digital Technology Hubs through collaboration with clients, the local state governments and academic ecosystems. Previously, Kumar was the Group Head for the Insurance, Healthcare, and Cards and Payments unit at Infosys, where he drove client services, demand generation, next-generation service offerings, innovation, and a world-class delivery organization to support clients. Kumar also led the Global Delivery organization in the manufacturing industry group. Spanning a global clientele and other new incubating engines, he built the global Oracle and CRM practices for Infosys as well as played diverse roles across organizations within the CRM space for Oracle Corporation, building a next-generation customer relationship management practice at Cambridge Technology Partners.

Kumar currently serves on the boards of directors of TransUnion, where he is a member of the Mergers, Acquisitions and Integration Committee and the Compensation Committee, and Digimarc Corporation, where he serves on the Compensation and Talent Management Committee and the Market Development Committee. Kumar also serves on the Board of Governors of the New York Academy of Sciences and the Board of Directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Kumar earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering from Shivaji University and his M.B.A. from Xavier Institute of Management, India.

Cognizant Provides 2022 Guidance Update and Schedules Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Call

For 2022, the Company expects fourth quarter and full-year revenue of approximately $4.8 billion and $19.4 billion, respectively, compared to prior expectations of $4.72–$4.77 billion for the fourth quarter and $19.3 billion for the full year. This reflects a year-over-year increase of approximately 1.3% (or 4.1% in constant currency¹) for the fourth quarter and growth of approximately 5.0% (or 7.5% in constant currency) for full-year 2022.

Additionally, the Company now expects full-year 2022 Adjusted Operating Margin² of approximately 15.3%, compared to prior guidance of 15.6%, and full-year 2022 Adjusted Diluted EPS² of approximately $4.38–$4.40, compared to prior guidance of $4.43–$4.46. This updated guidance includes a negative impact on Adjusted Operating Margin of approximately 30 basis points and Adjusted Diluted EPS of approximately $0.08 from the impairment of certain capitalized costs related to a large volume-based contract with a Health Sciences customer. The impairment is principally driven by the Company’s expectation of lower volumes.