Enabling clients to act with human insight at superhuman speed

Headquartered in the US, Cognizant is a leading global provider of IT, digital transformation, business process and consulting services. Through wave after wave of disruptive technological changes, we have provided clients with insights, skills and services they need to apply in their businesses—to stay relevant to their customers and help improve everyday life of people around the world.

In a conversation with Achal Kataria, Vice President and Country Head, India, and Head of Large Deals, APJ Executive Leadership, we discuss what drives Cognizant’s India business.

1. What is your background and what are your key responsibilities in your current role?

I am an experienced technology and business leader with over 29 years of experience in transformation initiatives, including digital, global delivery, operations, innovation and customer relationship management across industries.

As the head of Cognizant’s India business, I am focused on driving profitable growth in the country and working closely with our partner ecosystem and cross-functional teams to identify new strategies to deliver best-in-class services to our clients. I am also responsible for driving large deals across the Asia Pacific and Japan regions.

2. What are the key services that you offer to customers in India?

We provide technology services across cloud, data, analytics, applications, quality assurance, AI and generative AI—to drive business value across enterprises by combining our consulting and industry-led experience and business process automation services. Our objective is to be a strategic partner of choice in the digital transformation journeys of our clients.

Celebrating 30 years of technology expertise, leadership and innovation globally, and our 16th year of providing services to India enterprises, we work across 20 different industries, including banking and financial services, insurance, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, automotive, oil and gas, and technology.

3. What are some of the recent significant achievements or milestones?

We engineer businesses of our clients with technologies that enable them to anticipate and act with human insight at superhuman speed.

One of the key client success stories was building an end-to-end omnichannel customer experience for a leading automotive manufacturer, translating to increased sales. Another one was building a blockchain platform for one of India’s leading capital markets firms, enhancing compliance. We have helped our clients innovate, go to market faster and stay relevant to their customers.

4. How would you describe the current market landscape for your business unit/region?

India is one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world and is expected to be one of the top three economies in about 10–15 years. The Indian economy is poised to grow at 7% for the FY 2024–25.

Key industries such as the financial sector have showed robust growth against global headwinds, growing by about 31.5% in 2023 and is anticipated to sustain this momentum. The automotive industry currently contributes 7.1% to national GDP. The industry is expected to grow to $300B by 2026.Global capability centers (GCCs) in India have grown to $46B with a market size of approximately $60B, reflecting a CAGR of 11.4%.

In addition, the government’s policies and programs, including “Digital India”, “Make in India”, etc., provide enterprises in India the opportunity to grow and expand their operations. This in turn creates opportunities for strategic partners like Cognizant, as enterprises turn to technology to fuel business growth and fulfil their business strategies.

Since launching India operations in 2008, Cognizant is dedicatedly working with Indian enterprises on their technology and digital transformation initiatives, to drive growth and improve business outcomes for our clients.

5. How does your business unit meet the needs of its clients?

Cognizant is intrinsically client-centric. We deliver industry-specific business outcomes to companies through a unique combination of industry expertise and technological insight—by leveraging one of the world’s largest data and analytics practices and a depth of digital engineering that few companies can match.

6. What is your vision for the future of your business unit/region?

Cognizant India aims to be an industry leader and strategic partner of choice for clients across industries—banking and financial services, insurance, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, automotive, oil and gas, and technology—and drive 2X growth in the India region. We would like to engage with our clients to cocreate solutions that address their business challenges.

7. Generative AI is a hot topic today. What are your views on that?

Cognizant is a market leader in the evolution and responsible use of AI systems.

- We collaborate with other leading technology providers, governments and nongovernmental organizations to help ensure the ethical and responsible use of generative AI, focusing on safety, security, privacy, transparency and inclusion.

- We have invested in years of AI research, development and commercial AI applications, including deep learning and evolutionary AI. 

- We are investing $1 billion in our generative AI capabilities over the next three years, covering people, platforms, partnerships, M&A and more. 

- The combination of our technology prowess, industry expertise and understanding of clients’ goals and ambitions make us optimally equipped to guide enterprises. So, they can harness the potential of generative AI effectively and responsibly.

8. How does your business unit/region contribute to the local community and society?

Cognizant cares deeply about unlocking human potential and living out our purpose to improve everyday life. We contribute to the progress and prosperity of communities across the globe through our corporate foundations, philanthropic initiatives and associate volunteering efforts.

- Since 2005, The Cognizant Foundation India has helped Cognizant channel its Corporate Social Responsibility contributions in India and now includes projects increasingly focused on inclusion and technology.

- Cognizant’s Outreach program focuses on increasing inclusion in technology and expanding STEM education availability by helping provide underrepresented populations with the skills and knowledge needed for technology careers. 

- Cognizant is committed to cultivating a diverse and inclusive work environment in which all employees feel valued, are engaged and have the opportunity to develop and succeed.

- And lastly, sustainability. Our climate strategy is designed to transition Cognizant to a lower-carbon and sustainable company. Cognizant remains on track to fulfil its sustainability commitments, including its net zero emissions reduction goals.

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