Indian leaders are back on the saddle at Cognizant after Ravi Kumar took charge as CEO in January. With Jatin Dalal joining as Cognizant CFO, the return of Indian-origin leaders underscores massive efforts to revitalise growth with a new crop of senior recruits.
After a series of senior exits at the Nasdaq-listed company, Cognizant has backfilled top leadership roles with Infosys and Wipro graduates. Narsimha Rao Mannepalli, a former Infosys executive vice president and head of cloud, is reportedly joining Cognizant as the company's global head of delivery, according to sources. Andy Stafford, former EVP, and global delivery head, retired from the company earlier this year.
Nageswar Cherukupalli, former Infosys SVP is learnt to be joining Cognizant shortly too. Media had reported Mohd Haque, former Wipro SVP, and head of healthcare and medical devices for the Americas, is joining Cognizant as the head of life sciences. An email sent to Cognizant on Mannepalli and Cherukupalli joining the firm didn’t elicit a response.
Ajmal Noorani, SVP and head of communication, media, and technology, is now heading only the technology practice while former Infoscion Anurag Vardhan Sinha is the SVP and head of communications and media practices. A three-decade veteran at Infosys, Sinha joined Cognizant in May from Infosys where he was the SVP & head, communications, media, and entertainment (CME) for the Americas.