By Ettech Last Updated
Copyright indiatimes
The US-headquartered IT and professional services firm Cognizant has appointed senior executive Thirumala Arohi from rival Indian firm Infosys as its chief learning officer (CLO). He will be reporting to the company’s chief people officer, Kathy Diaz, Cognizant said in an internal announcement.Arohi has around three decades of experience, with over 28 years spent at India’s second-largest IT major, Infosys, and most recently served as the Bengaluru-headquartered company’s executive vice president and head of education for training & assessment and learning platforms.“He is (based) in Bangalore. This is a new position, and reinforces the importance of learning and skilling in the age of AI,” a spokesperson confirmed.Listed and headquartered in the US, Indian heritage Cognizant has more than 70% of its 343,800 employees based in India, catering to global clients and competing with the likes of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, and HCLTech.Arohi’s appointment comes at a time when the people-led IT outsourcing companies are reinventing their business and delivery models to redefine the future of work in the age of artificial intelligence (AI) and focussing on enterprise learning, reskilling, and upskilling.“Thiru will be responsible for the entire learning ecosystem, reimagining learning programmes and platforms, exploring innovative upskilling models and strategic partnerships, and driving thought leadership that shapes the global narrative on talent, technology, and the future of work,” Cognizant added.Previously, Krishnan Nilakantan, who is currently the CLO at US technology firm UST, served as Cognizant’s chief learning architect and global head of learning delivery until June 2021. Another executive, Saransh Agrawal, has been with the IT giant for nearly 27 years, with the most recent position as global head for Cognizant’s learning & development.Cognizant has been making several senior-level appointments in India, with the most recent being the hiring of Sailaja Josyula as the global head of its global capability centre (GCC) service line based out of Hyderabad and Vishal Salvi as senior vice president and global practice head for its cybersecurity business based in Pune. ET recently reported that Cognizant is also beefing up its mergers and acquisitions (M&A) team in India, appointing at least five consultants from firms including EY, Deloitte, and PwC, as part of its focus on inorganic growth for the year ahead.In July, Cognizant raised its projected annual revenue growth of 4.7-6.1% (3.5-5.0% in constant currency terms) year-on-year (YoY) to range between $5.27 billion and $5.35 billion.For the second quarter ending in June, it reported a 14% growth in net profit at $645 million on an 8% revenue growth from a year earlier to $5.25 billion, beating its own forecast of $5.14-5.21 billion.
