Cognizant vs Infosys, Wipro and other IT firms: Here is what the whole poaching war is about

All is not well amongst the major league IT firms in India. Tensions are escalating. The drama is growing. Companies are sending legal notices to each other. Ex-employees are being sued. An IT firm has accused another of "unethical" practices. They call it a poaching war. And at the centre of this all is a company called Cognizant –– a US-based multinational company that offers information technology and consulting services.

Poaching War: The background

But before we go into any other detail, let's rewind a little. Two of the biggest IT firms in India Wipro and Infosys have been witnessing mass exits since 2022. A large number of senior executives from the two companies resigned during this time. Infosys notably saw the departure of significant figures, including CFO Nilanjan Roy, EVP Rajeev Ranjan, President Mohit Joshi, and MD Ravi Kumar, among others. Similarly, Wipro experienced exits from CFO Jatin Dalal, Growth Officer Stephanie Trautman, SVP Mohd Haque, and Ashish Saxena, among others. Many of these departing executives have since joined rival firms, with Cognizant being one of the prominent destinations.

Basically, the tension has been brewing for a lot of months now. But things really heated up only this week when Wipro sued two of its former employees after they joined Cognizant.

Wipro vs Cognizant

Earlier this week, Wipro initiated legal action against its ex-CEO, Jatin Dalal, and another high-ranking executive, Mohd Haque, upon their move to Cognizant. The lawsuit stemmed from Haque's purported violation of the non-compete clause in his employment contract. Upon joining Cognizant as the Senior Vice President and Business Unit Head for life sciences, Haque allegedly breached this clause. It's worth noting that Haque made this move before the anticipated expiration of his non-compete agreement, initially set to end on August 1, 2023.

Upon departing from Wipro, Haque was accused of having seven files with confidential information, which were transferred via his personal Gmail account, as uncovered by Wipro's IT team. Wipro further alleges that additional files were uploaded and sent from Wipro to Haque's personal email account.

The complaint outlines that Haque surreptitiously uploaded multiple files shortly before submitting his formal resignation, misleading Wipro about his intentions. Despite Wipro's claims that Haque denied plans to join Cognizant, a recent TOI report suggests that he has not revised his LinkedIn profile to reflect his new employment status.

Haque, having been associated with Wipro for a decade, began his tenure in 2010 as the Vice President for Enterprise Application Services in Bengaluru. Over the years, he progressed through the ranks, reaching the position of Senior Vice President and Unit Head in 2023. In this capacity, he held diverse responsibilities, including the management of a team comprising 21,000 employees, overseeing P&L, sales, strategy, delivery, consulting, and account management.

Infosys vs Cognizant

While Wipro vs Cognizant was already making a lot of noise, the whispers around the so-called poaching war intensified this week when Infosys sent an official notice to Cognizant. Infosys alleges the unethical poaching of its valuable employees, following Cognizant's recruitment of over 20 individuals for top management positions. According to a recent MoneyControl report, Infosys contends that Cognizant has been employing questionable poaching techniques. The notice was issued right after Cognizant hired more than 20 high-ranking individuals, including four top executives reportedly from Infosys.

The notice has been characterised as a warning, stating, "Non-compete rules might not hold water, but this message to Cognizant was more like a warning." This development unfolded immediately after Cognizant concluded the recruitment of over 20 senior professionals.

Ravi Kumar, the current CEO of Cognizant and a former executive at Infosys, has enlisted 20 individuals as executive vice presidents and four as vice presidents within the company. Many of these executives had previous affiliations with Infosys and Wipro. Consequently, both Infosys and Wipro are pursuing legal action against Cognizant.