Cognizant announced today that after a global search, Kathy Diaz has been appointed as Chief People Office (CPO). Kathy has served as interim CPO since May 2023.  

Over the past five months, Kathy has impressed the Board and Executive Committee with her leadership skills, deep understanding of our culture and people strategy, success in building partnerships across the company, passion for connecting directly with associates, and commitment to providing an exceptional experience for all associates at every stage of their careers. 

Kathy joined Cognizant in mid-2020 as SVP, Total Rewards and HR Mergers and Acquisitions. She created Cognizant’s global Total Rewards function to help drive a high-performance culture and led its modernization and digitization across compensation, benefits, well-being, policies, talent architecture, and HR M&A.  

Prior to Cognizant, Kathy held a variety of HR leadership roles at Pearson, PVH, and Merck. 

“I look forward to partnering with Kathy on advancing our efforts to become the employer of choice in our industry,” said Cognizant CEO, Ravi Kumar S in a note to staff. “Please join me in congratulating Kathy on her well-deserved promotion.”