Founder Profile
Lakshmi Narayanan
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is Lakshmi Narayanan?
Lakshmi Narayanan is a founder of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, which was founded in 1994 with Kumar Mahadeva and Francisco D'Souza.
- Company founded
- Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation
- Founded
- 1994
- Co-founders
- Kumar Mahadeva and Francisco D'Souza
Background
Lakshmi Narayanan joined Cognizant at its 1994 founding as chief technology officer, later became president, and served as CEO from 2003 to 2006 before becoming vice chairman.
Founding Story
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.