Jatin Dalal likely to be new Cognizant CFO

Wipro’s loss could be Cognizant’s gain. Jatin Dalal, who quit as the chief financial officer (CFO) of Wipro on 21 September, is expected to take over as the CFO of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., according to an executive privy to the development. The executive didn’t want to be identified. 

Dalal, 48, is an old Wipro hand. He joined the company in 2002 and took over as the company’s CFO in 2015. His last day is 30 November. Wipro appointed Aparna Iyer as his successor. 

If Dalal indeed joins Cognizant, it would be the New Jersey-headquartered company’s first big hire from a homegrown technology services firm, under its new chief executive, S Ravi Kumar. 

Cognizant has struggled to keep pace with peers over the last few years and Kumar was hired from rival firm Infosys Ltd in January this year to steady the ship. On 2 August, Cognizant announced that its current head of finance, Jan Siegmund, would leave by early next year. 

“We do not comment on rumour or speculation in the market," said a spokesperson for Cognizant when Mint sought a clarification on the hire. Calls and text messages to Dalal went unanswered. 

Wipro has not shared the reason behind Dalal’s exit. But chief executive Delaporte told Mint that the former CFO wanted to “progress" and “do something different" (see interview). Nonetheless, Mint learnt that Dalal’s departure was in the works for at least eight months—he was unhappy with the CEO’s leadership style. 

For Dalal, joining Cognizant would be a step-up as he will move to a larger firm. Wipro, which was valued at $26 billion as of 22 September, ended 2022-23 with $11.16 billion in revenue. Cognizant, which had a market cap of $35.2 billion on the same day, ended calendar year 2022 with $19.4 billion in revenue. However, Wipro fares better on profitability. Wipro’s operating margin of 16% is higher than Cognizant’s 11.8%. 

The role of a CFO is becoming central to technology services exporters as their influence goes beyond just overseeing spreadsheets and into managing operations, engaging with investors and analysts, and above all, playing a key role in shaping the scope and direction of mega deals or contracts valued at more than $1 billion.