Who Founded Cognizant?

Kumar Mahadeva was a Dun & Bradstreet executive who headed the company's new Chennai software unit when it was formed in 1994 as a joint venture with Satyam Computer Services. He pushed the unit to sell its services beyond D&B, guided it through the 1996 move into Cognizant Corporation, the 1997 renaming to Cognizant Technology Solutions, and the 1998 initial public offering on Nasdaq. He led the company as CEO until 2003, when Lakshmi Narayanan succeeded him and Cognizant became fully independent of IMS Health.

Education: Harvard Business School. Kumar Mahadeva was born in 1939.

Francisco D'Souza joined the Dun & Bradstreet Satyam Software venture at its founding in 1994 and held roles in delivery, business development, and as president and chief operating officer before becoming CEO in January 2007. Over his 12 years as CEO, Cognizant grew into a Fortune 500 company, expanded into consulting, digital services, and business process work, and made its largest acquisition, the $2.7 billion purchase of TriZetto in 2014. He also served as vice chairman of the board and stepped down as CEO in 2019, when Brian Humphries took over.

Francisco D'Souza was born in 1968 in Nairobi. Education: Tepper School of Business; University of Macau.

Lakshmi Narayanan was one of the early leaders of the Chennai unit that became Cognizant. He started as chief technology officer, became president, and succeeded Kumar Mahadeva as CEO in 2003, the year Cognizant became fully independent. During his tenure the company scaled its offshore delivery operations rapidly. He handed the CEO role to Francisco D'Souza at the start of 2007 and continued as vice chairman of the board.

Lakshmi Narayanan was born in 1953. Education: Bangalore University.