10 Things You Didn’t Know About Cognizant Tech Solutions CEO Francisco D’Souza
Cognizant Tech Solutions is a Fortune 200 company in the global profession services niche. The current Vice Chairman and CEO of Cognizant is Francisco D’ Souza. He’s steering the helm with brilliance. He’s a top notch executive, but there is a lot about him that most people don’t know. To clear up this issue, here are ten things about Francisco D’Souza that you probably didn’t know.
1. He’s a native of Kenya
Francisco was born in August of 1968 in Nairobi, Kenya. His parents are Sushila and Pacido D’ Souza. His dad was an Indian Foreign Services officer as well as a diplomat. He has three sisters named Maria, Lucia and Jacinta. He was born into a family that had a good understanding of how the world works. This would give him an excellent start with a background that fosters the value of education and good business sense.
2. He’s lived around the world
Francisco D’ Souza spent time living in many different countries as a child. His father’s work took them to eleven countries. He has a good grasp on multicultural relations from his experiences because he had the good fortune to be exposed to a variety of different people and cultures. This is a big plus when you’re an executive in the business world.
3. He has a diverse education
Francisco has done a lot of moving around, but he didn’t let this interfere with the completion of his education. He attended the University of East Asia Macau and earned his Bachelor of Business Administration there. Afterwards, he went on to the Carnegie Mellon University at the Tepper School of Business where he graduated with a Master of Business Administration degree.
4. His first job was as a management associate
After graduating D’Souza accepted a position a a management associate with Dun & Bradstreet. When the company began work on an in-house project in 1994, he was involved. This project would evolve into Cognizant, the Tech company that he currently heads.
5. He started working at Cognizant in 1996
His migration to Cognizant from Dun & Bradstreet was a natural evolution. He simply transitioned from the parent company to the new creation where he took a variety of leadership positions. In January of 2007, he became the CEO of Cognizant as well as a promotion to the Vice Chairman of the Board followed in June of 2008.
6. He achieved a first in the business world
Francisco D’ Souza joined the board of General Electric in 2013. This was an important and historical event. He was its youngest director, but his youth was not characterized by inexperience. He was well-qualified for the position.
7. He served on several more boards
Board members are usually chosen because they have something of importance or significance to contribute to the governance of a company or entity. Francisco D’Souza has been invited to serve on a variety of different prestigious boards. He serves as the co-chairman of the New York Hall of Science Board of Trustees as well as the Carnegie Mellon University Board of Trustees.
8. He’s on a few more boards
In addition to those mentioned previously, Francisco also sits on the National Medal of Honor Museum Board of Directors. He’s also a member of the World Economic Forum and he was the Chairman of the World Economic Forum’s IT Governor’s Steering Committee in 2019.
9. He’s been honored for his entrepreneurship
D’Souza was officially recognized as the Best CEO, by Forbes India in 2013. He was also named by STEMconnector as one of the top 100 CEO Leaders in STEM in the same year. He received the Economic Times Entrepreneur Award in 2005 and was also named by Institutional Investor magazine as one of America’s Best CEOs.
10. His leadership routinely makes the news
Francisco was awarded the recognition by the Financial Express the distinction of being the “Newsmaker of the Year in 2014. He’s a brilliant and innovative leader who continues to lead his company on to bigger and better things. This was a great honor, but it was well deserved. He continued on and in 2017, he was ranked as the tenth on Fortune’s Businessperson of the year. D’Souza’s talents and skills are well-known and the accolades which he has received have been well-deserved.
