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Rajesh Varrier

President of Operations & MD and Chairman of Cognizant India, Cognizant

Search every verified Rajesh Varrier interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Rajesh Varrier, President of Global Operations and Chairman and Managing Director of Cognizant India, appeared on CNBC-TV18's Future Female Forward podcast on October 9, 2026, to discuss women in leadership, inclusive workplaces, and artificial intelligence. He said that the biggest gap for women is at the top leadership level, noting that while Cognizant's percentage of women in leadership has grown from 13% to 18%, it remains only 18%, and he questioned why it could not reach 50%. He also recounted an anecdote about a high-performing female colleague who resigned due to family caregiving demands, saying he found her an alternate role because he did not want to lose her as an asset. Varrier discussed Cognizant's AI investments, including a multi-billion-dollar commitment announced by the CEO about two years ago, followed by the establishment of AI labs in Bangalore, Silicon Valley, and other locations, as well as investments in platforms, talent, and partnerships with frontier model companies. He stated that his focus is on talent transformation to ensure no one is left behind, including women colleagues, and that women should not only adapt to AI but also actively design and lead it, citing a woman colleague in Kochi who leads a top-performing internal transformation team. He also emphasized the importance of changing colleague mindsets around unconscious bias and implementing systems and processes that support gender parity at work.

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