Cognizant CEO's pay jumps 18% to $19 million in 2025

Bengaluru: Nasdaq-listed Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S took home nearly Rs 96 crore ($10.7 mn) in 2025, though his target direct compensation was $19 million.

According to the company's filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), his realised compensation includes base pay, ACI (Annual Cash Incentive) apart from PSUs (Performance Share Units) and RSUs (Restricted Stock Units).

"The Compensation Committee, at its meeting in February 2025, evaluated Mr. Kumar’s prior year performance and the updated information provided by Pay Governance for CEOs in the Company’s peer group. Based on these considerations, the Compensation Committee determined that Mr. Kumar’s target direct compensation for 2025 should be increased to $19,000,000 (18% increase vs. 2024) to reflect his 2024 performance as CEO. The specific components of Mr. Kumar’s 2025 target direct compensation were comprised of: (i) base salary of $1,300,000 (8% increase vs. 2024), (ii) ACI target of $2,600,000 (8% increase vs. 2024), (iii) PSUs of $9,100,000 (21% increase vs. 2024) and (iv) RSUs of $6,000,000 (20% increase vs. 2024)," the company said in its filings.

However, his realised compensation was significantly lower than his target direct compensation primarily because his 2025 PSU grants are scheduled to vest, subject to the satisfaction of performance criteria, in future periods, it added.

His 2025 realised compensation consisted principally of his base salary, 2025 ACI award payout at 169 per cent of target and quarterly vestings of RSUs in the aggregate amount of about $4,988,000.

In 2024, the CEO took home nearly Rs 70 crore ($8.2 million), and in 2023, his compensation stood at $22.6 million, due to one-time equity award that was granted to him during his appointment.

Ravi Kumar was appointed CEO of Cognizant in January 2023.

The company's CFO Jatin Dalal’s realised compensation came in at $6.6 million, above the target of $6 million.

Among IT services firms,  HCLTech CEO and MD C Vijayakumar is the highest paid CEO.

Last year in its annual report, the company said Vijayakumar will receive over 71 per cent hike in his remuneration at Rs 154 crore ($18.60 million) for FY26. In FY25, the CEO took home close to Rs 95 crore ($10.85 million).

Cognizant, which employs over 3,50,000 people, in 2025, laid out a three-vector AI strategy, which includes: using AI to accelerate software development and reduce technical debt, industrialising AI from pilots into enterprise grade systems, and agentifying the enterprise by creating “agentic capital” that can tackle objectives traditional software is largely unable to reach.

The CEO, in the annual report, mentioned that the company delivered a record full-year revenue of over $21 billion, with 7 per cent growth or 6.4 per cent growth in constant currency.

"Importantly, our growth was profitable. We expanded operating margin and delivered earnings per share growth even as we funded significant advancements in our platforms, partnerships and intellectual property—including opening our newest AI Lab in Bengaluru and adding new IP to our patent portfolio," the CEO said in the report.