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Cognizant Exec: Company Continues to Benefit from Digital Transformation

Cognizant continues to benefit from the ongoing digital transformation that includes cloud computing and artificial intelligence, according to Prasad Chintamaneni, president of Global Industries and Consulting at Cognizant.

There has been a “massive shift in the business for us and for all of our clients,” he told the Citi Global Technology Conference in New York Sept. 6. And it hasn’t just been a matter of some new technologies that clients are trying to embrace, but rather some “fundamental shifts” that have taken place in companies’ business models, he said.

“Digital has changed everything,” he said, adding: “I think disruption and innovation is the order of the day” across multiple industries, including the automobile sector, communications, entertainment and retailing.

Cognizant has historically focused on helping clients run better and more efficiently, he pointed out, adding such effectiveness and efficiencies have become “even more important because clients need to save more aggressively to find those dollars to reinvest on the digital transformation side.” Clients see it as a “massive once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on the back of disruption and innovation,” and realize that if they don’t embrace it they will be “left behind” or “worse… may not be relevant anymore,” he said.

As a result, Cognizant has “become even more front and center with a seat at the table” – and, in the past couple of years, not just with traditional technology companies, but all clients and their CEOs, CFOs and other executives, he said, adding: “Digital has to be part of every conversation” now because “everything is becoming digital.”

For now, “the larger part of digital opportunity” that Cognizant is “driving is largely with existing clients” that it’s had for many years, he said.

He added: “As we invest and as we continue to evolve the capabilities and engage with a broader set of stakeholders, including more on the business side, I think the digital opportunity continues to manifest itself into something more compelling down the road.”

“We feel very good about how digital is evolving and the [traction] we are getting on all fronts, and that is reflected” in what Cognizant announced for its last quarter, where digital business grew 30% — “materially higher” than its traditional business, he said.

Cognizant again saw growth in digital-related revenue during the second quarter (ended June 30) as the company continued its shift to digital services and solutions, CEO Francisco D’Souza said Aug. 3 on an earnings call with analysts. Three of the company’s four business segments were “strong contributors” to the increased revenue that it reported for the quarter, as its communications, media and technology segment, along with healthcare and products/resources, each “averaged double-digit growth rates,” he said at the time. Digital-related revenue, meanwhile, “continued to grow well above company average,” he told analysts.