Cognizant picks Greg Hyttenrauch to head up digital & tech practice
Global ICT consultancy Cognizant has brought in former Vodafone exec Greg Hyttenrauch as its new President of Digital Systems & Technology.
Following in the footsteps of new CEO Brian Humphries – who took over the reins at Cognizant earlier this year – former Vodafone Business Cloud & Security leader Greg Hyttenrauch has crossed to the global ICT consultancy as President of Digital Systems & Technology. Prior to his time at Vodafone, Hyttenrauch spent seven years at Capgemini, including a stint as Deputy CEO for Global Infrastructure Services.
“Having worked closely with Greg at Vodafone, I know him to be a strong, client-centric leader who’s passionate about delighting clients and delivering results,” said Humphries, who before joining Cognizant was CEO of Vodafone Business. “His background spans business applications, IT infrastructure, and digital technologies, underpinned by years of experience in sales, delivery, and general management.”
In addition to his tenure as Deputy CEO for Global Infrastructure Services – responsible for the business line’s worldwide operational management – and roles as Global Sales Officer and the Head of Global Markets within its Infrastructure Services Strategic Business Unit, Hyttenrauch during his time at Capgemini until 2015 also served as CEO of the consulting firm’s UK and Nordics Outsourcing Business unit.
Having celebrated its 25th anniversary in January, Cognizant between 2013 and 2017 achieved a five-year compound annual growth rate of around 15 percent (to revenues of $14.8 billion, results which landed long-time former CEO Francisco D’Souza on Fortune’s 2017 Businessperson of the Year list), but Humphries is having to contend with slower market growth; a situation which has fed the rumour mill.
With two official purchases made under Humphries watch, that of DevOps and cloud transformation consultancy Contino and specialist biopharmaceutical advisory Zennith Technologies, the firm is also said to have its eye on European management consultancy Exton Consulting, and has been more recently linked to a takeover of Synechron, although Synechron’s founders have denied an intention to exit.
In India meanwhile – home to some 200,000 Cognizant employees and where the US-headquartered firm carries out the bulk of its operations – Humphries has likewise had to play down local reports of wide-scale lay-offs, with up 12,000 mid-to-senior level jobs on the block. The CEO has since reiterated that the net loss of employees might be closer to half of that, with plans to reskill around 5,000 associates.
One employee unlikely to be sent packing is Senior Vice President Pradeep Shilige, who Humphries singled out for special thanks for overseeing the Digital Systems & Technology business prior to Hyttenrauch’s appointment while since the middle of the year also serving as Cognizant’s Head of Global Delivery, where he’s been “focused on further modernising and optimising this essential capability.”