Mindtree & Firstsource, led by ex-Cognizant leaders, become stock market favorites!

8600+ views. 1360+ reactions. 47 reshares (as of 10 Aug 2020).

"Truly overwhelming & humbling"– that’s how I would like to define the response to my #1 article on Cognizant being the new CEO factory for the IT Services sector.

(If you missed the article, here’s the link)

The response is not surprising! That has always been the kind of "passion" that gets evoked from an archetypal Cognizant employee or alum. Always, rallying together for a common cause!

It's quite satisfying to note that I have managed to deliver on the main intent of the article: create extreme "positivity" around the media stories on the leadership exits at Cognizant.

The overwhelming response & comments have provided a strong endorsement to the Leaders and their abilities to create a tipping point for the entire Indian IT Services sector in general, and not just for the organizations they are leading now.

A handful of readers did pose the question, albeit offline, as to whether these leaders, who have essayed magnificent roles as part of a larger winning team (under the Cognizant banner), could independently become successful too? 

Well, whosoever has had a ringside opportunity to watch these leaders perform, would not even have an iota of doubt on their ability to replicate Cognizant’s success, again & again

Let me share two examples to elaborate the above statement:

It’s about a year since Debashis Chatterjee (DC) and Vipul Khanna quit Cognizant to join Mindtree (NSE: MINDTREE) and Firstsource (NSE: FSL) respectively as CEOs.

Look at the 12-month stock price movement of these two listed companies, as of 10 August 2020, in the Indian bourses to gauge the market response or perspective on the overall performance. (Disclaimer: Neither am I a stock market pundit, nor these are technical analysis charts comparing them against competitors or against the Benchmark Index. Hence do view it with that perspective).

Not surprisingly, the two stocks are at their 52-week high range, coinciding with the first Anniversary of their respective CEOs joining the organization. Furthermore, as a strong endorsement, ace Indian investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has also increased his stake in Firstsource from 2.89% to 3.26% in Jul 2020. 

And I am sure that I would be able to substantiate similar endorsements for the other Leaders who have recently joined their new employers.

Once again, deep gratitude to all the readers (including Cognizant employees and alumni) for the strong support to the article.

Just like many of you, I am keenly looking forward to updating this list and also publish Part 2 of the article that would focus on Cognizant leaders who have taken up CXO roles with other IT Services Companies and powering the growth of their current employers! 

Watch out…