Indian American Ravi Kumar becomes Cognizant CEO

Former Infosys veteran to lead Cognizant’s international expansion to unlock enhanced performance and growth

Yet another Indian American techie has become the boss at an American multinational information technology services and consulting company. Former Infosys President Ravi Kumar S. has joined Teaneck, New Jersey, headquartered Cognizant as CEO and a member of the Board.

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, Cognizant announced Jan 12.

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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.

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.

“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,” Rohleder said.

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“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.”

“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,” he 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.”

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.

Kumar also 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, according to a Cognizant press release.

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.

Read: Meet Cognizant’s new Indian-origin CEO Ravi Kumar S (January 13, 2023)

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.

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