Introducing Cognizant Capital…(and the story of how I became CEO of Cognizant…)

When I joined in 1992, Dun & Bradstreet was a huge company.  Comprised of 60,000 associates across 60 countries, D&B was not too different (in terms of size) from Cognizant, today.  I was excited to join a company with a proud 150 year old history, but wondered how I could impact a company of such immense breadth.  That’s when I got an incredible opportunity; D&B began a program that encouraged managers to incubate innovative business ideas.

At the time, India was beginning the process of economic liberalization.  Telecommunications were just opening up; basic email and remote connectivity were becoming feasible.  A few of us saw an opportunity for D&B, a heavy user of technology, to tap into the wealth of world-class talent in India.  So we did our homework and presented our business plan to the CEO.  He took a chance on our idea and sent a team of us to Chennai to establish an IT service center.  That was the start of Cognizant.

It was an uphill battle.  We were pioneers in the globalization movement, doing something few other companies had even considered.  After months of hard work, we had established D&B’s first footprint in India.  Within a year, we had grown to service all of D&B’s IT needs.  Despite our early success, we were capable of more.  Recognizing this unfulfilled potential, D&B spun off the service center and created Cognizant Technology Solutions.

Since that time we have grown from 700 employees to 78,000.  From $10M of annual revenue, to $3.25B.  From serving one client - D&B - to helping hundreds.  That small idea that D&B supported 15 years ago has grown into the formidable company that we are a part of today.

Some 15 years later, we introduced Cognizant Capital - our very own program to foster innovation.  In our first year of the program, we funded two of the business plans that our associates submitted.  Both are off to strong starts as fully operational virtual business units.  Building on that success, we are expanding the Cognizant Capital program.

Over the next three years, we plan to seed 20+ business plans with $25M+.  Plans that are selected will be treated as start-up companies; founders will be accountable for their ventures’ success and will share in both the risk and reward.  The Capital Board - comprised of me and other members of our executive management team - will meet with teams at least quarterly to advise them and measure them against performance targets. 

We expect this program to deliver at least $500M in incremental annual revenue within five years.  Though we know there is potential for much more.

So what are we looking for in the next great idea?  Here are some questions to think about:

• What problem does it solve? What need does it fulfill? What is the solution’s value proposition?
• Why is now the right time for this solution?
• How big of an opportunity is there for this solution? Can it scale to >$100MM in revenue in 3-5 years?
• Does it provide an opportunity for non-linear revenue growth?
• What synergies does the idea have with Cognizant’s core business / other core initiatives?
• Who would Cognizant compete against? What gives Cognizant a competitive advantage over incumbents or other new entrants?
• Do you have an aggressive team that wants to win the market and make a game changing impact - not just work on the margins for incremental share?

If you would like to learn more about Cognizant Capital or would like templates to develop and submit your business plan, please visit the Cognizant Capital blog (https://ch1blogs.cognizant.com/blogs/CognizantCapital/ ) or contact Dhiren Patel ([email protected] ).

 I look forward to hearing from you about what will become the next Cognizant!