Anil Cheriyan 'could not turn down' the job offer from Cognizant

• Cognizant has hired Anil Cheriyan as its new executive vice president of strategy and technology.
  
• In his earlier stints, he’s worked with IBM, SunTrust Bank and most recently, the US government.
  
• When leaving his post in the US General Services Administration, Cheriyan said Cognizant’s offer was one that he “could not turn down”.
  

Anil Cheriyan is the newest member of Cognizant’s ranks. The new executive vice president of strategy and technology “could not turn down” the job offer when it came across his desk.

“Although my intention was to stay longer, a private sector company reached out directly with an opportunity with global impact that I can’t turn down,” Cheriyan told staff over email.

Before joining Cognizant he was the longest-serving member of the Technology Transformation Service (TTS) in the US General Services Administration. His role was to apply modern technology and methods to improve the public’s experience with the government. He announced his plans to retire on June 30 and July 17 was his last day in his role there.

Prior to TTS, Cheiryan was one of the highest-paid CIOs at a public company with total compensation of $3.7 million.

"Cheriyan's immediate priority, once he joins on August 3, will be to take the reins of our IT and Security remediation efforts from Greg Hyttenrauch, who has led these efforts on my behalf since April," Cognizant CEO Brian Humphries said in a statement.

Not Cheriyan’s first stint at a private-sector IT company
At Cognizant, Cheriyan will be reporting directly to Humphries with oversight over the company’s global IT, security and strategy, alliance business development lines.

“As the company’s leader of technology, he will be responsible for informing strategy, digitizing the business, and strengthening IT and Security capabilities and resilience,” explained Cognizant in a statement.

Before the offer from Cognizant came along, Cheriyan had been at the helm of several consulting practices at IBM and PwC Management Consulting earlier in his career. This was before he joined SunTrust Banks as its executive vice president and chief information officer in 2012.

Cheriyan has a Master’s degree in science and philosophy in management as well as a Bachelor of Science in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from Imperial College in London.

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