It is the reflection of a strategic partnership when a seasoned company like Cognizant agrees to nurture the diverse skills of a student delegation from a B-school like Indian School of Business (ISB). In some sense this showcases the seriousness of both parties to grow at an accelerated pace inside the global corporate workforce.
The student delegation recently visited the Chennai campus of Cognizant India. It was amazing to see how well kept and managed a campus that can house up to 30,000 people is. The facilities and discipline of its occupants spoke of the work culture and imbibed values. After the introductions we got an opportunity to listen to inspiring growth stories of the company and its leadership team. At the event, we got to listen to nine business leaders from across different units of Cognizant. We met leaders from CBC, BDM, and of course ISB alumni who are excelling in the organisation since 2003, when Cognizant first hired from the institute.
The leadership team and the student delegation discussed the key focus area of the industry — digital transformation. It was noted that the watertight boundaries that existed between a consulting company and a solution implementing company are almost gone with companies like Cognizant breaking boundaries and showcasing their domain knowledge and technical expertise, thereby creating value for the customers.
The student delegation gave a presentation of their assessment on digital transformation and how it will shape the IT industry in next few years. The leadership team received the presentation with great interest and the discussion was enriching. A little known fact came to light — Cognizant has eight labs across India where its scientists experiment on nascent technologies to come up with innovative products for its next gen customers.
After this, we interacted with ISB alumni over lunch. It was apparent that the ISB graduates were satisfied and happy with their jobs. I can go on to describe the visit but I’ll pause here and let the partnership speak for itself with the great numbers of roles coming to campus this year.