Cognizant, a provider of information technology (IT) services, intends to hire 20,000 new hires by 2025. The company wants to broaden its talent pyramid and get ready for managed services and software development driven by artificial intelligence (AI).
“Since we are now receiving a lot of work related to managed services, the 20,000 new hires will now form our pyramid. Therefore, that will begin to accelerate our headcount,” said Cognizant’s Chief Executive Officer Ravi Kumar S. He informed about this development at a news conference following the results of the March quarter.
“It’s a good time to re-baseline the pyramid now that organic growth has returned,” Kumar continued. In the IT industry, a pyramid structure typically means that there are more people with less experience and fewer with higher expertise, which lowers wage bills.
Due to significant acquisitions in the financial services and health sciences verticals, the US-based IT services company exceeded Street revenue projections in Q1 Q1CY25.
More Jobs in the IT Industry in Current Fiscal
Due to uncertainties in the market climate, Cognizant’s Indian peers have refrained from disclosing the precise hiring goals for FY26 at the same time as the announcement of the fresher recruitment. However, according to management commentary thus far, the top five IT companies are expected to add between 80,000 and 84,000 IT jobs during the current fiscal year.
Executives from the company have noted that the real number can fluctuate greatly. Cognizant’s own development platform, FlowSource, which blends machine-generated and human code, will be used to train the new hires. In reference to the AI-first method being implemented at the freshmen level, Ravi stated, “When you’re doing it for the first time and doing it that way, that’s the only way you’ll know how to code.”
It is anticipated that implementing code help platforms early on will increase productivity throughout the development cycle. Additionally, Cognizant is still hiring specialist candidates from Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs) for positions as full-stack developers and power programmers.
Exploring New Opportunities with Fresh Talent
The company, which is headquartered in Belcan, is also investigating the development of new positions as part of the “Vector 3 of agentification”. This term refers to next-generation service models that may not necessitate conventional engineering skills.
The CEO highlighted new prospects for non-engineers with operations, domain, and other experience, saying, “These are labour pools we didn’t address in the past.” According to Ravi, the services major employs over 60,000 people who joined the company straight out of college and have worked there for more than ten years. “
And that is the middle management of the company, which is the core of the business.” With talent depth in both India and the US, Kumar claimed that Cognisant stands out in the Global Capability Centre (GCC) market thanks to its extensive industry-spanning subject expertise. As of right now, the company has six GCC transactions, and more than twenty are in the works.
According to recent studies, Indian-origin CEOs are currently leading some of the world’s most successful companies in a variety of sectors.
From technology to healthcare, these leaders have achieved remarkable success and are now considered among the most influential CEOs in the world.
There is a whole range of companies, starting from IBM, Cognizant, and Adobe to tech giants like Google and Microsoft, mobile mammoths like Nokia, and content kings like OnlyFans, where the CEOs are of Indian origin and are upping the game, no doubt.
So, without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the top Indian CEOs ruling the world in 2023.
Indian Origin CEO- Sundar Pichai (Google and Alphabet)
Pichai Sundararajan, also known as Sundar Pichai, was born in Tamil Nadu, India. He earned a degree from IIT Kharagpur in metallurgical engineering and is a distinguished alumnus of that institution.
He holds an M.S. from Stanford University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where he was named a Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar.
Pichai began his career as a materials engineer and joined Google as a management executive in 2004 and became the CEO of Google in the year 2015. Pichai was also named as the CEO of Google parent, Alphabet in December 2019, when he replaced Larry Page.
Satya Nadella
Company
Microsoft
Headquarters
One Microsoft Way Redmond, Washington, United States
Revenue
$198.27 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2014-Present
Indian Origin CEO – Satya Nadella (Microsoft)
Hyderabad-born Satya Nadella has a BE from the Manipal Institute of Technology, an MS from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Before joining Microsoft in 1992, he worked at Sun Microsystems as a member of its technology staff.
He became the CEO of Microsoft in 2014 succeeding Steve Ballmer. He also succeeded John W. Thompson and was named Chairman of Microsoft in 2021.
Vivek Sankaran
Company
Albertsons Cos Inc
Headquarters
Boise, Idaho, United States
Revenue
$76.768 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2019-Present
Indian Origin CEO- Vivek Sankaran (Albertsons Companies)
Vivek Sankaran is a well-known business executive in the United States. He is currently the President and CEO of Albertsons Companies, one of the largest food and drug retailers in the U.S., with more than 2,200 stores across 33 states.
Before joining Albertsons in 2019, Sankaran was the CEO of PepsiCo Foods North America, where he led the company’s Frito-Lay and Quaker Foods businesses in the U.S. and Canada. He has also held senior leadership roles at other major companies, including Procter & Gamble and McKinsey & Company.
Under his leadership, Albertsons has continued to expand its digital capabilities, introduce new products and services, and improve its supply chain and logistics operations.
Arvind Krishna
Company
IBM
Headquarters
Armonk, New York, United States
Revenue
$60.53 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2020-Present
Indian Origin CEO- Arvind Krishna (IBM)
The Indian CEO of IBM, who became the Chairman on January 1, 2021, Arvind Krishna was born in Dehradun, India.
He completed his schooling at St Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun, and the Stanes School, Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. He then received a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1985 and eventually got a PhD in Electrical Engineering.
Krishna began his career at IBM as an engineer in IBM Research and was promoted to CEO in 2020. He is currently serving IBM as its CEO and Chairman.
Vasant Narasimhan
Company
Novartis AG
Headquarters
Basel, Switzerland
Revenue
$50.5 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2018-Present
Indian Origin CEO – Vasant Narasimhan (Novartis AG)
Narasimhan was born in the United States in 1976 but spent much of his childhood in India. He attended the Syosset High School in New York before earning a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the University of Chicago.
He went on to complete his MD from Harvard Medical School, as well as a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
After completing his education, Narasimhan worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company before joining Novartis in 2005. In 2014, he was appointed as the Global Head of Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer for Novartis.
In 2018, Narasimhan was named CEO of Novartis, succeeding Joseph Jimenez.
Sanjay Mehrotra
Company
Micron Technology
Headquarters
Boise, Idaho, United States
Revenue
$27.15 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2017-Present
Indian Origin CEO – Sanjay Mehrotra (Micron Technology)
Kanpur-born Sanjay Mehrotra started his college at BITS Pilani and then transferred to the University of California, Berkeley from where he obtained a Bachelor’s and a Master’s in Electrical Engineering and in Computer Science.
He is the current CEO of Micron Technology, who assumed office when Mark Durcan retired in February 2017.
Previously, he co-founded SanDisk, where he served as the president and CEO until its acquisition by Western Digital in 2016.
Laxman Narasimhan
Company
Starbucks
Headquarters
Seattle, Washington, United States
Revenue
$30.4 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2022-Present
Indian Origin CEO – Laxman Narasimhan (Starbucks)
Laxman holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering, University of Pune, an MA degree in German and International Studies from The Lauder Institute, and an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania.
He joined Starbucks under the title “interim CEO” in October 2022, and following the transition will succeed interim CEO Howard Schultz. Narasimhan officially assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer of Starbucks in March 2023.
Revathi Advaithi
Company
Flex (formerly Flextronics)
Headquarters
Singapore
Revenue
$29.72 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2019-Present
Indian Origin CEO – Revathi Advaithi (Flex)
The CEO of Flex and an advocate of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), Revathi Advaithi is an Indian-American business executive, who was born in India.
Advaithi started her career as a shop floor supervisor in Eaton. In 2002, she joined Honeywell and returned to Eaton again, where she worked for 10 long years after becoming the COO. She eventually left Eaton and joined Flex as the company’s CEO in 2019. Revathi is an alumnus of Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BS) and Thunderbird School of Global Management (MBA).
She is an independent director for the board of directors of Uber and Catalyst.org along with her present role. Besides, she also is a member of the MIT Presidential CEO Advisory Board. Revathi was also featured in Fortune’s list of the Most Powerful Women in 2019 and 2020.
Neal Mohan is an accomplished Indian-American executive with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
He began his career at Accenture, where he worked for approximately 1.5 years, before moving on to Microsoft as a manager in the company’s corporate strategy department.
In 2008, Mohan joined Google after the tech giant’s acquisition of DoubleClick. Over the years, he rose through the ranks and became YouTube’s chief product officer in 2015, overseeing the platform’s product and user experience.
Mohan’s impressive educational background and extensive tech industry experience played a significant role in his success. Notably, Neal Mohan, the Indian American business executive, became the CEO of YouTube in February 2023.
Shantanu Narayen
Company
Adobe Inc
Headquarters
San Jose, California, United States
Revenue
$17.6 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2007-Present
Indian Origin CEO – Shantanu Narayen (Adobe)
Born in Hyderabad, India, Shantanu Narayan started his career at Apple. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Osmania University, an MBA from the University of California, Berkley, and an MS from Bowling Green State University.
Narayen joined Adobe in 1998 and got promoted to CEO in December 2007, at the age of 45.
Narayen also represented India in sailing at an Asian Regatta and got his name among the world’s best CEOs by Barron’s Magazine in the year 2016.
Niraj Shah
Company
Wayfair
Headquarters
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Revenue
$12.369 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2002-Present
Indian Origin CEO – Niraj Shah (Wayfair)
Shah earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Cornell University and a master’s degree in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
After completing his education, Shah started his career as a consultant at the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where he worked for several years.
In 2002, he co-founded the online furniture retailer CSN Stores (which later became Wayfair) with his friend and business partner, Steve Conine.
George Kurian
Company
NetApp
Headquarters
San Jose, California, United States
Revenue
$6.549 billion
Term of Office
2015-Present
Indian Origin CEO – George Kurian (NetApp)
After serving as the executive vice president of product operations for two years at NetApp, George Kurian became the CEO and President of the company in June 2015.
Born in Kottayam district, Kerala, he pursued engineering at IIT-Madras, but left six months later to join Princeton University; he also holds an MBA degree from Stanford.
Leena Nair
Company
Chanel
Headquarters
London, United Kingdom
Revenue
$15.6 billion
Term of Office
2022-Present
Indian Origin CEO – Leena Nair (Chanel)
Born on June 11, 1969, in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, Leena Nair was an Electronics Engineering student at Walchand College of Engineering. After completing her graduation, Leena went to XLRI Jamshedpur from where she came out as a gold medallist.
Nair joined Anglo-Dutch company Unilever and was notably appointed as the Chief Human Resource Officer of the firm in 2016. She was recognized as the youngest, first female, and the first Asian ever to achieve the feat. Leena served many leadership positions in the same company before being appointed as the CHRO. Leena Nair was once again announced as the CEO of the French fashion brand, Chanel.
Ravi Kumar S
Company
Cognizant
Headquarters
Teaneck, New Jersey, United States
Revenue
$19.428 billion
Term of Office
2023-Present
Indian Origin CEO – Ravi Kumar S (Cognizant)
Ravi Kumar S. took on the role of CEO at Cognizant in January 2023. His tenure as CEO followed a distinguished career where he served as the President of Infosys from January 2016 to October 2022, contributing to his deep understanding of the IT industry.
Kumar’s educational background is equally impressive, with an engineering degree from Shivaji University in Maharashtra and an MBA from Xavier Institute of Management in Orissa. His journey in the technology sector underscores the increasing presence of Indian-origin CEOs in global tech companies.
Nikesh Arora
Company
Palo Alto Networks
Headquarters
Santa Clara, California, United States
Revenue
$5.818 billion
Term of Office
2018-Present
Indian Origin CEO – Nikesh Arora (Palo Alto Networks)
Nikesh Arora took the role of CEO and Chairman at Palo Alto Networks in June 2018. Prior to this, he worked with Google and SoftBank.
Born to an Indian Air Force Officer, Arora holds a Btech degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT BHU, Varanasi.
Furthermore, Arora also holds a degree from Boston College and an MBA from Northeastern University. Nikesh Arora has retained the CFA that he earned in 1999.
Anjali Sud
Company
Tubi
Headquarters
San Francisco, United States
Revenue
NA
Term of Office
2023-Present
Indian Origin CEO – Anjali Sud (Tubi)
Born in the USA, Detroit, Anjali Sud is an American businesswoman of Indian origin and is popularly known for being the CEO of Vimeo. Sud opted to study at the private school, Phillips Andover Academy at the age of 14.
She eventually received a B.Sc. degree in Finance and Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and later topped it off with an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Sud was appointed as a Vimeo CEO in July 2017. She previously served as a General Manager and the Head of Marketing of the company. Sud is also counted as a Board member of Dolby Laboratories. Furthermore, Sud is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. She was also listed by Fortune in 2018 under its 40 Under 40 rising business leaders.
Anjali Sud stepped down from her position as Vimeo CEO andjoined Tubi in September 2023, taking on the role of CEO at Fox Corp.’s free streaming service.
Devika Bulchandani was born and raised in India, and she completed her schooling there. She then moved to the United States to pursue higher education, and she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Bulchandani began her career in the advertising industry in 1995, working at several leading agencies such as Ammirati Puris Lintas, J. Walter Thompson, and McCann Erickson. She joined Ogilvy in 1999 as an Account Director and worked her way up the ranks, eventually becoming the Chief Operating Officer of Ogilvy New York in 2017.
In March 2021, Bulchandani was appointed as the CEO of Ogilvy North America, making her the first woman of color to lead the agency.
Jayshree Ullal
Company
Arista Networks
Headquarters
Santa Clara, California, United States
Revenue
$4.381 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2008-Present
Indian Origin CEO – Jayshree Ullal (Arista Networks)
Jayashree Ullal, the President, and CEO of Arista Networks was raised in New Delhi and attended San Francisco State University from where she graduated with a B.S. in Engineering.
She then went on to obtain a Master’s degree in Engineering Management from Santa Clara University.
Rangarajan Raghuram
Company
VMware
Headquarters
Palo Alto, California, United States
Revenue
$13.16 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2021-Present
Indian Origin CEO – Rangarajan Raghuram (VMware)
Rangarajan Raghuram currently serves as the CEO of VMware, who assumed his office on June 1, 2021.
Raghuram joined the company back in 2003 and has held multiple key leadership positions, thus being responsible for influencing the company’s strategies and bringing forth a technological revolution that VMware has seen.
Punit Renjen
Company
Deloitte
Headquarters
London, England
Revenue
$59 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2015-2022
Indian Origin CEO – Punit Renjen (Deloitte)
Renjen was born and raised in India, where he earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Bombay. He later moved to the United States to pursue an MBA from Willamette University’s Atkinson Graduate School of Management in Oregon.
After completing his MBA, Renjen joined Deloitte’s U.S. consulting practice in 1989. He quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a partner in the firm’s consulting practice in 1999.
In 2015, Renjen was appointed as the Global CEO of Deloitte, becoming the first person of Indian origin to lead one of the “Big Four” accounting firms.
On December 31, 2022, Punit retired as Deloitte Global CEO after having served in the role since June 2015. He now serves as Deloitte Global CEO Emeritus.
Ivan Menezes
Company
Diageo
Headquarters
London, England
Revenue
$20.56 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2013-2023
Indian Origin CEO – Ivan Menezes (Diageo)
Ivan Menezes was born in Pune, India, in 1959. Menezes attended high school in Hong Kong and went on to study at the University of Pune in India, where he earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
He then moved to the United States to pursue a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Menezes started his career with Nestle in 1986, working in various roles across Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Menezes joined Diageo in 1997 as a strategy director and was subsequently appointed president and CEO of Diageo North America in 2004.
He was later promoted to the role of Chief Operating Officer in 2012, before becoming CEO in 2013.
Ivan served as the CEO of Diageo from 2013 until his passing in June 2023. Later, in June 2023, Debra Crew was appointed as Diageo’s Chief Executive Officer.
Amrapali ‘Ami’ Gan
Company
OnlyFans
Headquarters
London, England
Revenue
$2.5 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2021-2023
Indian Origin CEO – Amrapali Gan (OnlyFans)
Amrapali Gan has been named the new CEO of the London-based internet content subscription service company, OnlyFans on December 21, 2021, with the founder of the company Tim Stokely stepping down from the role. The NRI Indian CEO has already assumed office on the same date.
Amrapali Gan, or ‘Ami’ Gan, as she is nicknamed, has completed her early and higher education in California, US.
Gan has completed her Associate of Arts degree in Merchandise Marketing from FIDM. She then pursued a Bachelor of Arts in PR and Organisational Communications from California State University.
Furthermore, she also went on to earn her Certificate of Entrepreneurship from Harvard Business School Online. Ami had worked as a consultant with Arcade Agency for around 4 years before being appointed as the CEO of OnlyFans.
In July 2023, Ami Gan resigned as the CEO of OnlyFans after a two-year tenure, with Chief Strategy and Operations Officer Keily Blair stepping in as the new CEO. Ami Gan has started her own new venture, Hoxton Projects.
Sanjay Jha
Company
Global Foundries and Motorola
Headquarters
Malta, New York, United States
Revenue
$2.5 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2014-2018
Indian Origin CEO – Sanjay K Jha (GlobalFoundries and Motorola)
He is the former chief executive officer (CEO) of GlobalFoundries and the former chairman and CEO of Motorola Mobility. Before that, he was the chief operating officer of Qualcomm.
Jha was born in Bhagalpur, Bihar, and holds a BS from the University of Liverpool and a PhD from the University of Strathclyde.
Rajeev Suri
Company
Nokia
Headquarters
Espoo, Finland
Revenue
$25.997 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2014-2020
Indian Origin CEO – Rajeev Suri (Nokia)
Rajeev Suri is an Indian–Singaporean business executive and the former CEO of Nokia from New Delhi, India. Suri joined Nokia in 1995 and held various key positions before being the President and CEO in April 2014, which was after Nokia had repurchased full control of the NSN and sold its phone division to Microsoft Mobile.
Suri holds a B-Tech from the Manipal Institute of Technology. After he left his office at Nokia, Suri in 2020 giving way to its new CEO, Pekka Lundmark, Suri joined Inmarsat, where he joined as a CEO effective from March 1, 2021, onwards.
Francisco D’Souza
Company
Cognizant
Headquarters
Teaneck, New Jersey, United States
Revenue
$19.428 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2007-2019
Indian Origin CEO – Francisco D’Souza (Cognizant)
Francisco D’Souza is among the youngest CEOs in the software services sector and a member of the company’s board of directors. D’Souza joined Cognizant as a co-founder in 1994 and went on to become its CEO in 2007.
The son of an Indian, D’Souza was born in Kenya and is distinguished as the former CEO and Vice Chairman of Cognizant. He holds a BBA from the University of East Asia, Macau, and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh.
Brian Humphries succeeded Francisco D’Souza as Cognizant’s CEO in April 2019, and later in January 2023, Ravi Kumar S was appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of Cognizant.
Dinesh Paliwal
Company
Harman International
Headquarters
Stamford, Connecticut, United States
Revenue
$2.7 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2007-2020
Indian Origin CEO – Dinesh Paliwal (Harman International)
Born in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, Paliwal holds a BE and an MS degree from IIT Roorkee. He also obtained an MBA from Miami University.
Paliwal is known as the former President and CEO of Harman International, an independent subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, who stepped down from both of the positions and is currently appointed among the Board of Directors of the company.
Before joining Harman, he spent 22 years with ABB Group, where he held the dual role of President of ABB Group with responsibility for the company’s global P&L, and Chairman/CEO – ABB North America.
Ashok Vemuri
Company
Conduent Inc. of Xerox Corporation
Headquarters
Florham Park, New Jersey, United States
Revenue
$3.85 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2016-2019
Indian Origin CEO – Ashok Vemuri (Conduent Inc of Xerox Corporation)
New Delhi-born Ashok Vemuri is one among the Board of Directors for Financial Policy and Public Responsibilities at Kroger and was the former Chief Executive Officer of IGATE and Conduent.
Xerox, the 110-year-old document technology company that over the years came to symbolize everything associated with photocopying, named former iGate-appointed CEO Ashok Vemuri as the new CEO of its back-office outsourcing company, Conduent.
Vemuri was also appointed as the Executive Vice President and CEO of Xerox Business Services LLC.
Ajaypal Singh Banga
Company
Mastercard
Headquarters
Purchase, Harrison, New York, United States
Revenue
$22.23 billion (2022)
Term of Office
2010-2020
Indian Origin CEO – Ajaypal Singh Banga (Mastercard)
Beginning his business career with Nestlé in 1981, Pune-born Ajaypal Singh Banga was appointed as the President and CEO of Mastercard back in July 2010 and retained his office till December 31, 2020, after which he stepped down giving way to Michael Miebach.
He completed his primary education at the Hyderabad Public School in Begumpet and he went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University followed by a PGP in Management from the IIM Ahmedabad.
Banga was nominated by the Biden administration in February 2023 and elected as the President of the World Bank on May 3, 2023.
Born in Ajmer, Rajasthan on May 21, 1984, Parag Agrawal was schooled at Atomic Energy Central School No.4., where he studied with the renowned singer Shreya Ghoshal. Agrawal sat for the Joint Entrance Exam, where he was placed 77th, thereby seizing a chance to be admitted at the IIT Bombay.
He completed his B.Tech. degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the same institute in 2005. Parag then decided to pursue a PhD in computer science from Stanford University, US.
He was the CEO of Twitter, Inc. from November 2021 to October 2022. Agrawal was promoted to the post of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in October 2017, when he replaced Adam Massinger. This was the last designation that he served before being named as the Chief Executive Officer of the company on November 29, 2021.
Conclusion
CEOs are integral to a company. He/she, when appointed as the CEO of a particular company, manages and monitors the day-to-day operations of the firm, and also stands responsible for strategic planning and decision-making. The CEO is the person who determines the direction of a business and is thus, a respectable as well as a valuable asset of the company.
Therefore, it feels exceptionally good to be an Indian when you get to hear that the CEOs of such big companies that are shaping the modern world are Indian in origin. Hope you find this list of Indian-origin CEOs at the top companies globally useful and informative!
FAQs
Who is the highest paid CEO of India?
Mukesh Ambani, the CEO of Reliance Industries is the highest paid CEO of India.
Who are the top 10 CEO in world?
Top 10 CEO in world are:
Elon Musk
Satya Nadella
Mark Zuckerberg
Andy Jassy
Tim Cook
Jeff Bezos
Jack Dorsey
Arvind Krishna
Warren Buffett
Jamie Dimon
Who are the Indian Origin CEOs leading the world?
Some of the top Indian origin CEOs leading the world are:
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by the organization it is based on.
Cognizant Technology Solutions, founded on January 26, 1994 by Kumar Mahadeva & Francisco D’Souza, is an American multinational IT services provider. It also provides consulting and business process outsourcing (BPO) services. In the course of dot com boom, it flourished by receiving the application maintenance work that the big corporations were reluctant to carry out. Gradually, it moved into application development, complex systems integration and consulting work.
Cognizant grew rapidly during the 2000s and became a Fortune 500 company in 2011. It is a member of the NASDAQ-100, the S&P 500, the Forbes Global 2000 and the Fortune 500 and is positioned among the top performing and fastest growing companies in the world.
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, incorporated on April 6, 1988, is a professional services company. The Company operates through four segments: Financial Services, Healthcare, Manufacturing/Retail/Logistics, and Other. The Company’s services include consulting and technology services and outsourcing services. The Company develops, licenses, implements and supports third-party software products for the healthcare industry, including solutions for health insurance plans, third party benefit administrators (TPAs), and healthcare providers. It provides IT Infrastructure management outsourcing services that include data center, infrastructure security, network and convergence, end user computing services and mobility.
Cognizant – Logo and it’s meaning
Cognizant’s old logo consists of two C’s – one vertical and one horizontal. The vertical C in the logo symbolizes the equality of its employees while the horizontal C signifies the corporation’s commitment to its customers.
A few months back, Cognizant launched its new logo. The core thought driving this transformed identity was the brand’s work and motto: digitally transformative, thereby, ensuring that their clients remain ahead of, or at par with their competition.
Cognizant – Founders and History
Kumar Mahadeva and Francisco D’Souza are founders of Cognizant.
Co-Founder of Cognizant – Francisco D’Souza
Cognizant began as Dun & Bradstreet Satyam Software (DBSS),established as Dun & Bradstreet’s in-house technology unit focused on implementing large-scale IT projects for Dun & Bradstreet businesses. In 1996, the company started pursuing customers beyond Dun & Bradstreet.
In 1996, Dun & Bradstreet splits off few of it’s auxiliaries including Eriscon, IMS International, Nielsen Media Research, Pilot Software, Strategic Technologies and DBSS, to form a new company called Cognizant Corporation, headquartered in New Jersey, U.S. Three months later, in 1997, DBSS renamed itself to Cognizant Technology Solutions.
Cognizant’s single-minded mission is to dedicate their business process and technology innovation know-how, deep industry expertise and worldwide resources to working together with clients to make their businesses stronger. Their aim is to be the number one solutions provider in each sector they provide service in, through integrity, competence, innovation and execution. Commitment to their customers, employees, licensees and shareholders is the foundation of their mission. They commit to being, “Open, Honest and Direct.”
Cognizant – Business Model
Like many other IT services firms, Cognizantfollows aglobal deliverymodelbased on offshore software R&D and offshore outsourcing. The company has a number of offshore development centers outside the United States and near-shore centers in the U.S., Europe and South America. In its early years, Cognizant gained business from a number of American and European companies with the help of the Dun & Bradstreet brand. The company’s senior executives foresaw the firm as a provider of high-end customer services at lower prices than it’s competitors Accenture, BearingPoint, Capgemini, E&Y, Deloitte and IBM.
Cognizant – Revenue
Cognizant Technology Solutions revenue for the quarter ending September 30, 2020 was $4.243B, a 0.12% decline year-over-year.
Cognizant Technology Solutions revenue for the twelve months ending September 30, 2020 was $16.752B, a 0.75% increase year-over-year.
Year
Annual Revenue
Percentage change
2018
$16.783B
+4.08%
2017
$16.125B,
+8.88%
2016
$14.81B
9.81%
Cognizant – Funding and Investors
Cognizant is registered under the ticker NASDAQ:CTSH . Their stock opened with $10.00 in its Jun 19, 1998 IPO.
Cognizant has raised a total of $241K in funding over 1 round. This was a Post-IPO Equity round raised on Nov 18, 2016 by Summit Financial Wealth Advisors.
Cognizant – Investments
Cognizant has made 5 investments. Their most recent investment was on Nov 20, 2018, when Civic Hall raised $2M.
One of the top most competitors of Cognizant is Infosys. Infosys Limited, is an Indian multinational corporation that provides business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services. Headquartered in Bangalore, India. Other competitors include Accenture(US), Insight, CGI and CIBER.
Cognizant – Controversies
Bribery : Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) paid million in bribes to Indian government officials on behalf of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. to secure permits, ranging from environmental clearance to power. L&T has made unlawful installments and Cognizant repaid the amount by masking it as pay for cost overruns.
Companies Act violations : Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has agreed to pay $25 million to settle charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and two of the company’s former executives were charged for their roles in facilitating the payment of millions of dollars in a bribe to an Indian government official.
Layoffs : 20 senior executives, above the Director’s Level were dismissed because they were not able to catch up with the latest technologies. The number of the executives that were dismissed is unusually high and questions the ability of the company to catch up with the latest technologies.
Tax evasion : The Income Tax department has frozen Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp’s bank accounts and deposits in Chennai and Mumbai for allegedly evading a dividend distribution tax (DDT).
Cognizant – Growth
Cognizant is praised for it’s amazing pace of growth. Till December 2018, Cognizant has added $14.66 billion in revenue, or the combined numbers of what Wipro and Tech Mahindra Ltd could achieve. All the credit goes to the company’s super-aggressive sales culture as the firm always had more people managing it’s large accounts. Cognizant’s senior management comprises more people from outside the firm, unlike the insular approach followed by many other competitors.
Cognizant recognized as a Top Provider in the Outsourcing and Consulting categories besides being named as a Customer Satisfaction Leader by CGT.
Ovum Decision Matrix recognized Cognizant as “Market Leader” in Outsourcing Testing Service Providers.
Consumer Goods Technology (CGT) awarded Readers’ Choice Award for the ninth consecutive year.
Forrester Research, Inc. named Cognizant a Leader in Business Intelligence Services.
Cognizant placed in IDC MarketScape as a Leader in IT and BPO Services.
Cognizant – Future Plans
A spokesperson for Cognizant said that it will continue to invest in the business, while decreasing certain costs in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic wrecking havoc in the global market place.
Brian Humphries, chief executive, Cognizant, said, “Today, we are announcing a simplification of our operating model and a cost reduction program, which will allow us to fund investments in growth. Looking ahead, we see a clear path to unlock the organizations full growth potential, win in our key digital battlegrounds, and return Cognizant to its historical position of being the bellwether of the IT services industry.”
IT firm will go through a net reduction of 5,000-7,000 employees, either through attrition or role elimination. This accounts for around 2 per cent of its total employee base. Expecting a challenging demand environment after 2020, the company plans to invest in developing digital skills while correcting the employee pyramid, by on-boarding close to 20,000 entry-level hires.
New-Jersey headquartered Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation is one of the world’s largest providers of IT services. But on April 18, it became a victim of Maze ransomware attack that has caused disruptions to its clients. The incident comes at a time when businesses have been already disrupted by coronavirus pandemic that has forced companies to turn to initiatives like work from home to ensure business continuity.
Cognizant released a statement on Saturday on its official website which stated, “Cognizant can confirm that a security incident involving our internal systems and causing service disruptions for some of our clients, is the result of a Maze ransomware attack.”
Cognizant has around 300,000 employees and over $16.8 billion in revenues. It handles the IT services for many of the top Fortune 500 companies. Cognizant has majority of its employees in India and the Philippines working from homes during the lockdown caused by Covid-19.
Among other services, Cognizant provides a wide range of outsourced IT services for the financial services sector. The financial sector accounted for over $5.8 billion of its total revenues in 2019. The company, that has 3 lakh employees working worldwide, said it was hit by the Maze ransomware group and is engaging law enforcement authorities to take some legal actions against the group.
In January, 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI) had issued an alert warning to all U.S. companies about the Maze’s ill practices of threatening to release company information if the desired ransom is not paid to them.
Even after being attacked, Cognizant has not yet been named on a website that is associated with Maze attackers. The website has named other companies in the past for failing to fulfil the Maze related ransomware demand. Brett Callow, security analyst, said that the group could simply be A/B testing alternative negotiating strategies to see whether permitting companies to control the release of information results in better outcomes or not.
What is the Maze Ransomware?
The infamous Maze ransomware was discovered in 2019 and since then, it has gained notoriety. The anonymous hackers behind Maze have made headlines in recent months for publicly holding its victims hostage. The group is known for threatening to leak company’s valuable information if the target doesn’t pay its desired ransom.
The cyber criminals behind the Maze ransomware use a range of different techniques to gain entry to the companies it is targeting. It includes exploits kits, remote desktop connections with weak passwords or sophisticated fraudulent campaigns. The ransomware itself is sophisticated so that its code avoids detection by security programmes.
According to March 2020 McAfee analysis, Maze malware is a binary file of 32 bits usually packed as an EXE or a DLL file. This indicates that the Maze ransomware can also terminate debugging tools used to analyse its behaviour, including the IDA debugger, x32dbg, OllyDbg and more processes. So it is almost impossible for a ordinary firewall software to detect the threat.
Typically the goal of any ransomware attack is to infect computers in a private network and encrypt files on these computers and then demand a ransom to recover the files. According to experts Maze is different. The attacker in this case has the ability to format or transfer the data onto his or her server. The data is then held on this server until a ransom is paid to recover it. If the victim does not pay the expected ransom, the attackers then publish the data online in public.
According to Beenu Arora, CEO & co-founder of US-based cyber security company, Cyble, Maze ransomware operators are known to conduct their attack below the surface. They are known for stealing the company’s data first followed by locking their target systems. They fully understand their victim’s reputational risks and hence their approach is basically “steal, lock and inform.”
According to a report, the attackers even justified their actions in a statement saying:
“We want to show that the system is unreliable. The cybersecurity is weak. The people who should care about the security of the information are unreliable. We want to show that nobody cares about the users. Now it’s our turn. We will change the situation by making irresponsible companies pay for every data leak.”
Arora further added that the notorious ransomware group understands the brand value of the organization it plans to attack. It has turned into a well-funded network in recent months. The reason behind this is successful ransomware attacks due to growth in their group and organizations increasingly paying ransomware extortions as no options are left. Also, some certain cyber insurance companies are negotiating with the ransomware operators to make payments.
Maze has tried to target many U.S. Companies
The alleged targets of Maze have included the city of Pensacola in Florida, cybersecurity insurance provider Chubb Ltd. and Canadian construction company Bird Construction Inc., according to various media reports. The Maze group has claimed to post files from all three companies on its website. Now, the same might be done in case of Cognizant.
According to Brett Callow, a threat analyst at Emisoft, even though hackers linked to Maze have denied their involvement in the attack on Cognizant, it does not mean that Maze isn’t responsible for the attack. For the moment though, no Cognizant data has been advertised for sale or published online.
What are Steps being taken by Cognizant?
Cognizant has about 200,000 employees based in India. This means it must take the necessary steps to contain the ransomware in order to not cause any furthermore disruptions as its clients are spread across the world.
As a solution to this, Cognizant has said that it is looking into the incident and the company is also communicating with clients on the measures to be taken by them to deal with the disruptions. Cognizant quoted that their internal security teams along with the leading cyber defense firms are actively taking steps to contain this incident.
Cognizant has also engaged with the appropriate law enforcement authorities to take required legal actions. Cognizant is in ongoing communication with our clients. They have provided them with Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) which identify potentially malicious activity on a system and other technical information of a defensive nature.
