Cognizant appoints former Infosys president Ravi Kumar as CEO

IT services and consulting firm Cognizant has announced the appointment of former Infosys president Ravi Kumar as its new CEO and member of the board.

Effective immediately, Kumar succeeds Brian Humphries who will stay with the company as a special advisor until 15 March to ensure a smooth leadership transition.

Kumar arrives having spent 20 years at IT services and consulting firm Infosys, most recently serving as president of the business between January 2016 and October 2022.

As president, he led the company’s global services business, overseeing digital transformation, consulting, technology, and engineering services, as well as data and analytics, cloud and infrastructure, and enterprise package applications service lines.

“I have watched Cognizant fundamentally transform its business, expanding its digital portfolio and capabilities, strengthening client relationships and partnerships, and meaningfully enhancing operational discipline,” Kumar said.

“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."

Cognizant had previously announced that Kumar would join the company as president of Cognizant Americas. As a result of him now becoming CEO, Surya Gummadi will take the reins of the Americas business, having held the role on an interim basis since July 2022.

In a further shakeup, the company also announced that board member Stephen J. Rohleder has been elected as chair of the board. A seasoned executive, Rohleder is expected to add a wealth of experience from his previous 35-year tenure in senior leadership roles at Accenture, including overseeing operations, developing strategy, counselling clients, and growing teams in the technology space.

In the firm’s announcement, Rohleder said the board is focused on "positioning Cognizant to reaccelerate growth" and praised Kumar’s leadership abilities.

"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 said. “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."

The leadership change comes as Cognizant gears up to announce its Q4 2022 financial results next month. The company said it expects revenue of $4.8 billion (£3.9 billion) for the quarter, while full-year revenue is tipped to come in at $19.4 billion (£15.8 billion) – with both figures above prior expectations.

Outgoing CEO Brian 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".