Rajesh Nambiar resigns as Cognizant's India CMD, appointed as Nasscom president

American IT major Cognizant named Infosys's Rajesh Varrier as Nambiar's successor.

Varrier will take over as global head of operations from September 2 and as India chairman and managing director (CMD) of the Nasdaq-listed company from October 1.

Cognizant said, in a release, that Rajesh Varrier's responsibilities will include operations, delivery excellence, workforce planning, India leadership council, expansion and other key responsibilities.

“Cognizant today announced the appointment of Rajesh Varrier as Global Head of Operations, effective September 2, 2024. Additionally, he will be appointed as Chairman and Managing Director, India, assuming the role on October 1, 2024, as Rajesh Nambiar leaves Cognizant to become president of Nasscom,” the company said in a statement.

Rajesh Nambiar, who joined Cognizant in November 2020, is also currently Nasscom’s chairman, a role he took on in April 2023.

While Cognizant is a New Jersey-based IT company, more than 70 percent of its 347,700 workforce is based in India, according to the firm's annual report.

The change at the top for the IT services company comes at a time when it is trying to match industry growth numbers as the company ended 2023 with $19.4 billion in revenues, a decline of 0.4 percent on a yearly basis, according to reports.

Rajesh Varrier served as the executive vice-president, head of global services and Infosys Americas before joining Cognizant.

Cognizant's chief executive officer (CEO) Ravi Kumar S said in a press release that the job of India chair is deeply important to the organization's culture.

"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,” Ravi Kumar S added.

On Nambiar's appointment as Nasscom president, Kumar said, “Under his leadership we will continue to collaborate to further strengthen the Indian IT industry."

Rajesh Nambiar, now president-designate at Nasscom, will replace Debjani Ghosh, who has been the industry body's president since 2018.

Debjani Ghosh will serve in her position till her tenure ends in November this year, according to reports.