Mr Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice Chairman, Cognizant Technology Solutions

Mr Lakshmi Narayanan has been a technology industry professional for over 30 years, building and managing divisions and business units in Europe, India and the United States. His experience spans organizational strategy, customer relationship management, corporate governance, risk management, and operations. As a founding member of Cognizant, he has been responsible for providing leadership for the company’s high-touch customer relationship and delivery excellence model. Under his leadership, Cognizant became the youngest IT services company to reach a billion dollar revenue milestone, and also went past a market capitalization of $10 billion.

In his role as the Vice Chairman of Cognizant, Mr Lakshmi is responsible for strategic programs around customer advocacy, education, training, and leadership development. He is also actively involved in highlighting and delivering insights and practical advice on IT industry issues and multi-lateral trade among nations. He is the past Chairman of NASSCOM, the apex industry body for promotion of software and services in India, and was also a member on the Board of the US-India Business Council (USIBC).

In December 2008, Anna University conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) in recognition of his stellar contribution as an industry-acclaimed strategist, institution-builder leader and visionary. He was honored by The Economic Times, with the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award in 2005.

In 2006, he was inducted into New Jersey High-Tech Hall of Fame. In October 2008, India’s Dataquest magazine honored him with the ‘IT Person of the Year for 2008’ award in recognition of the leadership he has demonstrated in driving change and growth in Cognizant and the Indian IT industry.

He holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Science and Electronics and a Master’s DIISc in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.