Cognizant’s Success Benefits Employees Looking For CEO Roles

Cognizant has earned a reputation as a strong growth company, which has made its employees desirable to other firms looking for leaders.
U.S.-based Cognizant is one of the world's leading professional services companies, currently ranked 194 on the Fortune 500. The company has made several deals this year, including the recent acquisition of New Signature, one of the world's largest independent Microsoft public cloud transformation specialists. The deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, expands Cognizant's hyperscale cloud advisory services.
In addition, it recently bought Collaborative Solutions, adding new finance and HR advisory and implementation services to Cognizant's cloud offerings; EI-Technologies, a Paris-based digital technology consulting firm and leading independent Salesforce specialist in France; Code Zero Consulting, a privately-held provider of consulting and implementation services for cloud-based Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ) and billing solutions; and Lev, a privately-held, digital marketing consultancy in the U.S.
Cognizant has also received attention for its reputation as a “CEO factory,” after a slew of executives recently took on leadership roles at other companies. Some examples include Gajen Kandiah, former president of Cognizant’s digital business and an employee for 16 years, who was recently named CEO of Japanese conglomerate Hitachi. In addition, Nirav Patel, who was the global lead of Cognizant’s global communications, media, and technology business, is now the president and CEO of Bristlecone, while Kaushik Bhaumik, formerly in charge of Cognizant’s healthcare business and also at the company for 16 years, has become the CEO and founder of Glide Health, a startup that uses AI/ML to address problems in healthcare. Karthik Krishnamurthy, the former global head of markets for Cognizant’s digital business, has left to become the CEO of Collabera. He was at Cognizant for 18 years.
Rod Bourgeois, head of research at DeepDive Equity Research, said Cognizant’s success in the services industry and popularity with investors has made its executives popular for poaching. “As a result, in the market for management talent, Cognizant staff tend to benefit from the company’s historical reputation as a growth leader,” he explained.