Simone Moors appointed to lead Cognizant in New Zealand; company to triple workforce by 2026

March 8, 2023 – Cognizant is expanding its presence in New Zealand with the appointment of Simone Moors as Country Managing Director, New Zealand. Under her leadership, the company plans to triple the current workforce by the end of 2026 and continue its growth trajectory in this market.

According to The Economist, New Zealand’s IT spend is set to grow by 10.1% in 2023, outpacing that of the United States (9.8%), Canada (9.4%), United Kingdom (8.5%) and Australia (8.5%). This growth is part of the driving force behind Cognizant’s commitment to the market.

Cognizant first invested in New Zealand in January 2021 with the acquisition of Servian, an enterprise transformation consultancy specialising in data analytics, artificial intelligence, digital services, experience design, and cloud. Servian’s onshore workforce of 150 engineers, spread across operations in Auckland and Wellington, have been working with leading brands including Suncorp New Zealand to deliver business growth and improved customer experiences. Servian’s workforce has now been integrated into Cognizant, bringing together global capabilities and deep industry experience in financial services, technology, retail, resources, logistics, utilities and manufacturing, and specializations in digital strategy and experiences, enterprise application and infrastructure, quality assurance, security and business process optimization.

“New Zealand is a market ripe for growth, especially as a region with strong cloud infrastructure and IT adoption. I’m excited to kickstart my journey with Cognizant, helping to realize the company’s global vision of ‘Intuition Engineered’ for our market,” says Simone Moors, Country Managing Director, New Zealand, Cognizant. “New Zealand businesses are innovative and looking at how they transform into future-ready, modern businesses. I look forward to combining our advanced global capabilities and reach with our existing and local expertise to enable their transformation journey.”

Simone’s role as Country Managing Director, New Zealand, Cognizant follows an impressive 25+ years both locally and globally in the technology and financial services industries, including leadership positions at Vodafone, NTT, AMP and CoreLogic.

Jane Livesey APAC CEO of Cognizant said: “I am thrilled that Simone is joining the team and confident that the investment Cognizant made in Servian will continue to flourish under her guidance. Simone will lead the New Zealand business to new heights by introducing everything that Cognizant has to offer and driving investment in the local community and workforce.”

Customers welcome Cognizant’s expanded New Zealand presence

''We are excited to be partnering with Cognizant to support and maintain our suite of applications. Looking forward to explore further and benefit from the local and global strength Cognizant offers.” says Lisa Flux, Executive Manager, Platform & Service Delivery, Suncorp New Zealand.