The Economic Times: Cognizant’s Chief Operating Officer Says Cognizant is an $8-billion Startup—Nimble and Agile—Despite its Size

“It has been a wonderful journey; growing from about 200 associates in 1994 to well over 166,000, and from $2 million in revenue to over $8 billion in 20 years,” says Sridhar Thiruvengadam. “During these 20 years, we have seen multiple changes—we transitioned from a captive to a third-party, from a privately held company to be a publicly traded one—and also seen multiple structural shifts in economies, businesses and technologies. But all through these changes, two fundamental cultural tenets have remained the same at Cognizant—customer centricity and employee orientation. In making every single strategic decision, we asked one simple question: “Is it in the best interest of our clients?”

On his experience of working with three CEOs, Thiruvengadam says, “Kumar Mahadeva was a master strategist. During his period many of our core strategies—such as focus on a limited number of clients, industries and geographies, and our reinvestment philosophy—were defined and implemented. Lakshmi Narayanan’s ability to nurture an army of leaders and scale the company with great operational discipline is legendary. Francisco D’Souza embodies the power of reinvention. Every few years, he has reinvented himself—and thereby Cognizant. Frank has the spunk of a serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist rolled into one.”

When asked about the company’s employee value proposition, Thiruvengadam says, “Companies are made great in part by how their employees feel about them. In the drive to scale newer heights, what ties employees to Cognizant is a sense of not just contribution, but participation in the organization’s growth. The promise of well-defined career paths, unique learning opportunities, and experience of working with marquee clients around the world attracts top talent to Cognizant and helps the company retain that talent. One of the cornerstones of our human capital philosophy is to share the rewards of our success with our employees. That we translate our industry-leading growth into enviable opportunities for our employees is well known.”

Thiruvengadam notes, “Despite our size, we are an $8-billion startup. We behave like that—entrepreneurial, nimble, collaborative, and agile. Our model is built to ensure that our associates are empowered to take charge of a part of the business, act like mini-CEOs with a customer focus, and think about innovating to achieve that goal.”

Click here to read more.