Ravi Kumar outlines Cognizant's resurgence under his watch from the corner office

MUMBAI: It has been two years since Ravi Kumar assumed the role of CEO at Cognizant, and various indicators suggest he is steering the company out of a challenging period, ToI's Veena Mani & Shilpa Phadnis reported on February 27. The report quoted Kumar as saying that Cognizant has ascended to the 'middle of the stack' among its competitors, a shift from its previous standing at the bottom—this seems to imply that the company is outperforming rivals such as Capgemini, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra in the most recent quarter.

"I’m not claiming we’ll be in the top three this year, but I’ve made directional progress. Transitioning from the middle to the top of the stack is more challenging because it entails competing with high-performing companies. I have all the necessary tools in place to position us as a market leader, which fuels my confidence," Kumar remarked at the Nasscom Technology & Leadership Forum 2025 held in Mumbai. Although firms like Accenture, TCS, and Infosys continue to surpass Cognizant’s performance, which posted a modest 2% organic growth in the December quarter, the Nasdaq-listed company had experienced a downturn in organic revenue over the past two calendar years.

Kumar indicated a significant uptick in the number of substantial contracts secured, disclosing that Cognizant signed ten large deals in the December quarter, each valued over $100 million. He pointed out that the company's two primary sectors—healthcare and banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI)—are showing improvements compared to previous performance. Furthermore, he highlighted efforts to diversify the business across both industry sectors and service areas, which has enhanced the company's resilience.


However, he acknowledged that geographic diversification will require more time to achieve. "We are beginning to enter a growth phase. We are forecasting organic growth for this quarter as well. While there are segments where we are underperforming and areas that are still a work in progress, we do have a margin expansion strategy in place. We are no longer a company that remains on the sidelines," Kumar stated.

Additionally, he emphasised improvements in employee utilization, which have positively affected the company's bottom line. The implementation of AI-driven productivity initiatives has also contributed to this progress. He noted that with machines generating 20% of the code, teams are now able to accomplish more tasks with fewer personnel.