Rajesh Nambiar has announced his resignation from the position of India Chairman and Managing Director of Cognizant. Following his departure from Cognizant, Nambiar has taken on the role of president-designate at the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom). Nambiar is set to succeed Debjani Ghosh, the current president, whose term expires in November 2024.
Nambiar was appointed as the CMD of Cognizant India in September last year. His tenure in this role lasted for less than a year before his resignation. Before his appointment as CMD, Nambiar was a member of the IT industry body NASSCOM's Executive Council. In 2023, he was elected as the chairperson of NASSCOM. Prior to his tenure at Cognizant, Rajesh Nambiar held leadership positions at Ciena, IBM, and TCS.
In a statement, Nasscom said: "Nambiar is an industry leader having worked and led global teams at TCS, IBM, Ciena, and Cognizant. His leadership and strategic initiatives have been instrumental in positioning India’s tech sector as a global leader."
Debjani Ghosh, President, Nasscom, said: “The tech sector is pivotal to India’s growth and nasscom has played a key role in shaping India’s tech leadership globally. Leadership at nasscom is fully empowered to carry forward the charter and I am confident that Rajesh will elevate it to even greater heights.”
Cognizant has appointed Rajesh Varrier as Nambiar's successor. The transition in leadership will officially take effect on October 1, 2024. Varrier, who will be based in Bangalore, will also be entrusted with the crucial responsibility of serving as the Global Head of Operations starting from September 2, 2024.
In his new capacity, Varrier will directly report to Ravi Kumar S, the current Chief Executive Officer of Cognizant.
As Global Head of Operations and Chairman & Managing Director, 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.
In a statement, Ravi Kumar S said: "The job of India Chair is deeply important to our culture and my years of working with Rajesh Varrier gives me great confidence that together, with our growing leadership team in India, we can continue to build upon our already strong foundation.”
Prior to joining Cognizant, Rajesh 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.