Rajesh Nambiar quits Cognizant, appointed as Nasscom president designate

India’s technology industry body Nasscom on Wednesday announced the appointment of Rajesh Nambiar as its president designate, succeeding Debjani Ghosh who completes her term in November 2024. Nambiar was elected as chairperson of Nasscom in 2023.

He will leave global technology major Cognizant, where he is currently India chair, at the end of September.



Nambiar has previously led global teams at large IT majors including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), IBM and Ciena.

“This is truly an exciting time for the industry, as we focus on the accelerated transition to AI-first companies, making talent our greatest competitive advantage, driving growth, and increasing investments in IP creation and R&D. I am both privileged and honored to take on this opportunity to collaborate with all stakeholders to enhance the Indian tech sector’s capabilities,” Nambiar said.

Separately, Cognizant announced the appointment of Infosys executive Rajesh Varrier as the global head of operations, effective September 2, 2024. He will be appointed as chairman & managing director (CMD), India, to take charge from October 1, 2024.

As global head of operations and CMD India, Varrier’s responsibilities will include operations, delivery excellence, workforce planning, India Leadership Council, expansion in India and other key responsibilities. Importantly, he will provide regional leadership for Cognizant’s India-based employees with a strong emphasis on driving company transformation programs, and representing the company as it executes its growth plan across India.

Based in Bangalore, Varrier will be an executive vice president of Cognizant, reporting to chief executive officer (CEO) Ravi Kumar S.

Prior to joining Cognizant, Varrier served as EVP, head of global services and Infosys Americas, as well as global head of Infosys’ Digital and Microsoft businesses. He also previously served as SVP of Digital Experience for the Microsoft business at Infosys. Before joining Infosys, Varrier was CIO and digital officer for Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance and founder of the analytics firm Activecubes. He holds both an undergraduate degree in Physics and a post-graduate degree in computer engineering from the University of Mumbai.