'Momentum back; wish next CEO from within Cognizant'

RAVI KUMAR S will complete two years as chief executive officer of Nasdaq-listed Cognizant at the turn of this year. The company grabbed headlines for hiring senior talent from rivals. Kumar has remained unfazed and focused on bringing back the firm to growth. In an interview with Shivani Shinde in Mumbai he says the focus on getting the momentum back and getting his A team has brought the mojo back to the firm. He also talks about the opportunity of global capability centres. Edited excerpts.

- Shivani Shinde

You will soon complete two years at the helm of Cognizant. How has been the journey?

I enjoyed bringing the commercial momentum of the company back.

This has meant drawing from the heritage and changing enough to stay relevant.

We did have a period of lull. To come out of this you need to create a self-belief and confidence in your teams. I think I've got that back. Our clients are rallying behind us. Last year we announced 17 large deals in the $100 million category. In the first half of this year we signed 13 large deals. Financial services, which were struggling for a couple of years, are back to growth.

Employees have been one of my big focuses. We had a historically high attrition rate in 2022 because of both the labour market as well as our own challenges.

At present it is back on track.