Cognizant India appoints Rajesh Varrier as Chairman and MD

Cognizant India announced the appointment of Rajesh Varrier as the chairman and managing director, effective October 1. Varrier will be replacing Rajesh Nambiar in the role as he leaves Cognizant to become the president of industry body Nasscom. Additionally, Varrier will also take over the role of global head of operations (effective September 2) and executive vice president (EVP) of Cognizant, reporting to chief executive officer Ravi Kumar S.

In the new role, Varrier’s responsibilities will include operations, delivery excellence, workforce planning, and India leadership council expansion in the country. He will be based in Bengaluru and provide regional leadership for Cognizant’s India employees with an emphasis on driving company transformation programs. 

“As we drive further operational excellence, efficiency and a sharp focus on execution into our business model, this role is a natural orchestration point for our India-based operations,” said Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S. “Additionally, 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 to be the employer of choice in India.”

Prior to Cognizant, Varrier served as the EVP, head of global services and Infosys Americas, as well as global head of Infosys’ digital and Microsoft businesses. He has also worked as Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance and founded analytics firm Activecubes in the past. Varrier is an alumnus of University of Mumbai. 

The outgoing Cognizant India MD Nambiar will now be succeeding Debjani Ghosh as the president of Nasscom. He was appointed by a search committee that comprised of Keshav R. Murugesh, Group CEO, WNS along with members Harish Mehta, Som Mittal, Krishnakumar Natarajan and Sindhu Gangadharan. Notably, Nambiar has been the chairman of the industry body since the last year.

 “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.