Transforming operations: Ravi Kumar reveals new agenda as Cognizant’s newly inducted CEO

Cognizant, a company that was founded in the year 1994 as a joint venture between Dun & Bradstreet and Satyam computer services with just 50 employees in Chennai. Initially, the organisation was dedicated to executing expansive IT projects for the Company Dun and Bradstreet. From 1996 onwards, the company started to branch out and started offering its services to other companies. In January 2023, Ravi Kumar joined Cognizant as the Global CEO. He began his tenure at the company as the Global CEO on March 15, 2023.

Early Life and Education

Ravi Kumar obtained his bachelor’s in engineering from Shivaji University in the year 1991. Following this, Kumar gained his PGDM in Finance/systems in the year 1996.

Career

Kumar’s first step into the professional landscape was in the year 1991, and his LinkedIn handle indicates that he worked as a Scientist at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. At Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Kumar was employed for three years, before he joined as a Senior Consultant at Pwc (PricewaterhouseCoopers). As a Senior Consultant, Kumar shifted to the positions of Business Head and Associate Director at corporations such as Oracle, and Cambridge Technology Partners. Kumar’s notable moment in his career manifested when he was onboard as a Sr. Vice President at Infosys in 2002, located in Hyderabad. In the following years, Kumar held various roles in Infosys. Kumar served in roles such as Senior Vice President, Global Head of Consulting, and Executive Vice President. Subsequently, he went on to become the President of Infosys in 2016.

His career, which saw him serve higher responsibilities, has led him to the Board of Governors of New York Academy of Sciences as well as the Board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Notable achievements

The launch of Metaverse was significant in blurring the lines between what is physical and what is virtual. At such a pivotal time, Infosys took control of the tide under Kumar’s leadership and launched what we now know as the Metaverse Foundry.

Kumar, who served in myriad roles in Infosys, showed his true potential as an industry veteran when Infosys revealed Metaverse Foundry. Simply put, this move by Infosys was pivotal at the time because it helped clients/enterprises to ease into virtually exploring Metaverse. The Meta Foundry launched by Infosys will help their clients to enhance their abilities in virtual space and curate their services in a virtual environment.

It is imperative to understand why this launch is so significant. In an era of digital trends, the need of the hour is to adapt or rather ease into these emerging trends. The Metaverse Foundry delivered an easy solution to this dilemma.

Kumar’s extensive experience is visible in his service at Infosys. Serving as the President of the Infosys Global Services, he played a significant role across all industry segments. He dived into technology, analytics, and infra services amongst others.

Ravi Kumar’s role as CEO of Cognizant

Elaborating on his present role as the CEO of Cognizant, Kumar is determined to facilitate a workplace that is inclusive and egalitarian in its operation. Ravi Kumar states that he is elated to be leading 3,50,000 associates across the world. Kumar explains that in his role as the CEO of Cognizant, he will ensure the sustainable growth of the company. Through his efforts to maintain sustainable growth in the company, he will also seek to maximize the shareholders’ value.

As of May 2023, Kumar explains that Cognizant is intricately monitoring the imbalanced macroeconomic environment. The company is driving towards simplification of the workforce. Kumar, who was recently on board as the CEO of Cognizant, mentioned that in the year 2023, the company plans to revive its profits and hopes to better its performance. Kumar states that he plans to reinvest their resources and set a clear agenda that will ensure they rationalise the costs to their company. The process of rationalising their costs includes reducing their office space and, as previously mentioned, simplification of the workforce. Cognizant is hopeful that their companies’ prospects will align with their streamlined agenda.