IT giant Cognizant announced former Infosys President Ravi Kumar as its new chief executive officer and a board member, replacing Brian Humphries. 

“Kumar joins Cognizant after a 20-year career at Infosys, where he held various leadership roles, most recently serving as President from January 2016 through 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.” said Cognizant spokesperson in a statement. 

Earlier, Cognizant reported that Kumar would be given the position of President of Cognizant Americas, which is now handed over to 24-year Cognizant veteran Surya Gummadi, previously SVP of the Health Sciences business segment of the company.

“I am honoured to join Cognizant, a company I have long admired for its dedicated client focus and its track record of innovation,” said the new chief. He also added that he had seen Cognizant grow its business while boosting operational discipline, strengthening client relationships, and expanding its digital portfolio and capabilities.

Brian Humphries will remain in the company as a special advisor till March 2023. In a statement, Humphries expressed his pride in the firm’s accomplishments while he served as CEO and wished the best for the new chief and team. 

Board member Stephen J Rohleder has been elected as the Board’s new chair, succeeding Michael Patsalos-Fox, who will stay on the Board as an independent director. 

The Indian-American CEO holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Shivaji University, Maharashtra and an MBA in finance from Xavier Institute of Management, Orissa, India. Prior to this, he served as the President of Cognizant competitor Infosys for more than five years.

The leadership change comes at a time when Cognizant shows underperformance.