Cognizant on Thursday named former Infosys President S Ravi Kumar as CEO and a member of the Board, effective immediately. He 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, the company said in an announcement.

Kumar joins Cognizant after a 20-year career at Infosys, where he held various leadership roles, most recently serving as President from January 2016 to 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.

Kumar said, “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.”

Cognizant had previously announced that Kumar would join the Company as President, Cognizant Americas.

Other appointments

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 announcement said.

Cognizant also announced that Stephen J Rohleder, a member of Cognizant’s Board since March 2022, has been elected as Chair of the Board. Rohleder said, “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.”

Quarterly results

The US-based IT company ended the third quarter with 3,49,400 employees, a majority of them working in India. The company reported annual revenue of $18.5 billion in 2021 and will announce this year’s numbers on February 2.

Meanwhile, Cognizant has updated its guidance for the fourth quarter and full-year 2022. For 2022, the company expects fourth-quarter and full-year revenue of approximately $4.8 billion and $19.4 billion, respectively, compared with 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 per cent for the fourth quarter and growth of approximately 5 per cent for full-year 2022, the company said.

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