NDTV Profit: Cognizant CEO Says Technology Breakthroughs Offer a Huge Opportunity for Businesses to Rethink, Reimagine and Reinvent the Future

“Technology has a tendency to accumulate and then you get a big breakthrough,” says Francisco D’Souza, speaking with NDTV Profit on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos. “We saw it during the dot-com days and before that during the client server days. We are seeing it again now with social, mobile, analytics and cloud or SMAC technologies. You have to invest to stay ahead of this curve.”

According to D’Souza, SMAC and advanced technologies beyond SMAC are clearly going to change the business landscape. “Businesses, organizations and governments are all going to become more technology-intensive,” he says. “It is a tremendous opportunity for all technology firms and for businesses to rethink, reimagine and reinvent what they’re going to do in the future and how they are going to serve clients more effectively and more efficiently.”

He adds that Cognizant is not just focusing on helping clients deploy new technologies, but also working with universities and educational institutions in the U.S. to focus on education. “Our ‘Making the Future’ program is all about how we equip students and eventually those who get into the workforce with skills they are going to need to be productive members of economies and societies.”

D’Souza says that healthy, good immigration reform is necessary in the U.S. “As we get into a world that is getting more technology-intensive, companies around the world and in the U.S. need skilled STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) talent to be competitive. Immigration reform done right is extremely important for the U.S. economy and we are proponents of it. It has to be done in a way that it is productive for U.S. businesses and enhances their competitiveness.”

Talking about the mood at Davos, D’Souza says, “For the first time in many years that I can remember being at Davos, technology is front and center on the agenda at Davos and that reflects client thinking. Businesses are beginning to realize that technology will fundamentally reshape business models and change how businesses compete going forward.”