Cognizant’s leadership shakeup: 3 senior women leaders quit

• Cognizant, as the top 10 IT Consulting giant is ahead of the curve with 4 women serving as Directors out of a board of 13.
• In a bold move last year, Cognizant promoted six women to senior vice-president positions.
• Nevertheless, the narrative shifts dramatically as three senior female executives, including one who was promoted recently, bid farewell to Cognizant

Three women leaders step down

Three senior women leaders have recently resigned from Cognizant in rapid succession, underscoring a major issue in retaining top talent, as first reported by The Times Of India.

This exodus has brought attention to the difficulties in retaining women leaders.

Meera Krishnamurthy

Krishnamurthy joined Cognizant in 2005.

In January 2017, she was promoted to Senior Vice President and Strategic Business Unit Leader.

In early 2023, Cognizant elevated insurance head Meera Krishnamurthy to lead the banking and financial services sector. She managed a business portfolio worth nearly $6 billion.

But she left the firm eight months after her promotion.

Regarding her future plans, she stated that she has always wanted to enjoy the holidays without work deadlines. She is eager to spend quality time with her family without emails, deadlines, and maybe even social media. She concluded with, “See you all in 2024.”

Sailaja Josyula

Sailaja joined Cognizant in 2018.

In July 2023, she was promoted to SVP of Intuitive Operations & Automation (IOA) for the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) industry in the commercial markets of North America, as well as global delivery.

Additionally, she served as the head of the Hyderabad center, Cognizant’s second-largest delivery center with over 56,000 Associates.

However, this month Sailaja announced her resignation from her position.

But the news is not so bad as she has joined EY as a Partner and Head of the managed services business.

Shameka Young

Shameka Young joined Cognizant in 2012 as part of the Network Operations Practice.

She was later promoted to Vice President for Communications, Media, and Technology Management Consulting & Digital Infrastructure.

From 2020 until her departure in July 2024, she served as Vice President and Global Head for Diversity & Inclusion.

According to Times Of India, Maya Sreekumar, who also heads center operations in Coimbatore, has replaced Young.

Young did not disclose any details with regard to her future plans.

Also read: Lessons I learned interviewing women CFOs – CA Nidhi Agarwal’s journey to inspire more women to take up leadership roles

Cognizant promoted 6 women to senior VP roles

In 2023, Cognizant appointed six women leaders to senior Vice President roles.

The appointees were:

• Sailaja Josyula.
• Elisa de Rocca-Serra was promoted to SVP of EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa) General Counsel and Contract Lifecycle Risk Management (CLRM).
• Patricia (Trish) Hunter-Dennehy was promoted to SVP of the Healthcare Provider/Payor Business Unit.
• Sandra Notardonato joined as SVP of Partnerships and Alliances.
• Thea Hayden was appointed as SVP of Global Marketing.
• Archana Ramanakumar rejoined Cognizant as SVP of the Industry Solutions Group (ISG). She had left the company in 2020 for LTI and LTI Mindtree.

Women trailblazers at tech giant Cognizant

Women make up 38.3% of Cognizant’s global workforce and 39.3% of its workforce in India. In tier-2 cities like Coimbatore, Mangaluru, Cochin, and Mysuru, over 50% of Cognizant’s employees are women. Currently, four of Cognizant’s board of directors are women:

• Vinita Bali, former CEO and Managing Director of Britannia Industries Ltd., and former VP of The Coca-Cola Company.
• Archana (Archie) Deskus, former EVP and CTO of PayPal Holdings, Inc.
• Karima Silvent, Group Chief Human Resources Officer and member of the Management Committee of AXA.
• Sandra S. Wijnberg, former Partner at Aquiline Holdings.

Also read: CFOs play a major role in diversity and inclusion in the workplace – says Madhumitha, founder of Diversity Dialogues

About Cognizant

Cognizant is a leading global provider of information technology services and consulting. Headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, the company is part of NASDAQ-100, trading under the symbol CTSH.

Headcount: Cognizant has a robust workforce of 344,400 employees (as of Q1 2024)

FY23 Revenue: Cognizant generated $19.4 billion in revenue during its 2023 fiscal year.

Cognizant’s leadership team

CEO – Ravi Kumar S

CFO – Jatin Dalal

CPO – Kathryn (Kathy) Diaz

CMO – Gaurav Chand

CTO of AI – Babak Hodjat

Global CIO – Neal Ramasamy

Wrapping up

On 7th July 2023, Forbes published an article where they featured a study on Women in the Workplace, supported by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company.

It uncovered a concerning trend: women leaders are exiting corporate America at a record rate. These driven women are not completely exiting the workforce, moving on from their current companies in pursuit of more promising prospects.

Although the exact motives behind the departure of those three leaders remain unclear, all organizations need to establish a fair work environment; A work environment where everyone, including women, can flourish without relying on diversity, equity, and inclusion quotas.

It’s also high time that women take courageous steps and follow their passions wholeheartedly.

Source: The Times Of India