“Frank [CEO Francisco D’Souza] often says never miss a crisis, it’s an opportunity," said R Chandrasekaran.

Excerpts from LiveMint’s article:

“For a quarter of a century since it was set up in 1994, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. has followed a simple mantra: capitalize on the opportunity emerging out of every crisis.

This approach is best exemplified by the company’s performance during the financial meltdown of 2008. Cognizant’s revenue grew 16% in 2009 and 40% in 2010; Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) and Infosys Ltd could only manage single-digit growth.

Four things underline Cognizant’s steroid-charged growth.

First, the company’s super-aggressive sales culture as the firm always had more people managing its large accounts.

Second, Cognizant’s senior management comprises more people from outside the firm, unlike the insular approach followed by homegrown companies. ‘We are truly an MNC,’ said Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, executive director, Cognizant India. ‘We had a CEO who operated out of the US, the next one operated out of India, and the one after him out of the US. If you were to look at the next 25 years, this one aspect of being a global organization with a global mindset and a global leadership positions us well to thrive in the digital era,’ said Ramkumar, who joined Cognizant from TCS in 1998.

Third, stability at the top. Since inception, Cognizant has had only four CEOs. Srini Raju and Lakshmi Narayanan were based out of India, while Kumar Mahadeva and current boss D’Souza are based out of US. Both Infosys and Wipro have had at least four bosses in the last decade alone.

Finally, the company has gained from its focus on fewer countries and industry segments. In 2017, the US accounted for three-fourths of its total revenue, while business from banking, financial services and insurance and healthcare accounted for 38.1% and 28.8%, respectively.”

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