A multi-year deal of more than $300 million from Daimler Trucks that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. snatched from Infosys Ltd last week has one common thread: Ravi Kumar.
Kumar, Cognizant’s current chief executive, was also instrumental in securing the Infosys contract during his stint at India’s second-largest software services provider in 2020, according to a person familiar with the matter. He joined Cognizant as its CEO in January 2023.
“He was one of the people in charge of the client, and now he has won it back for his current firm. It’s one of the large deals he won back from his previous firm,” said this person, who didn’t want to be identified since details are not public.
On 24 February, Nasdaq-listed Cognizant won a workplace services transformation deal with the German truck maker. The company will use one of its proprietary software to manage employee queries and procure essential hardware and software needed to run the truck company’s workplaces, among other tasks.
In December 2020, Infosys signed a $3.2 billion, eight-year IT transformation deal with Daimler, making it one of its three largest clients. Under the terms, Infosys would provide services across six business divisions, including network services, cybersecurity, SAP software, data centres, after-sales call services, and workplace solutions or the IT procurement business–the biggest of the six arms, a portion of which is now with Cognizant.
Daimler split into the Mercedes-Benz Group and Daimler Trucks in December 2021, but both units retained Infosys for their IT services.
However, Infosys and Daimler encountered execution issues with the deal. Miint had reported on 12 January that Infosys Ltd risked losing over a third of its $400 million annual revenue from Daimler, as the German group sought new IT vendors for software and equipment following execution delays.
Automation part of deal
Cognizant did not disclose the financial details of the Daimler deal. However, two people familiar with the matter, including the person quoted earlier, said it is valued upwards of $300 million and runs for five years. That translates to $60 million annually for the next five years, which is expected to add 0.3% to Cognizant’s full-year top line.
Teaneck, New Jersey-based Cognizant, which follows a January-December financial calendar, ended 2025 with $21.12 billion in revenue. The management guided for revenue of $22.14-22.66 billion this year, translating into a growth of 4.9-7.4%.
Mint could not independently ascertain whether the incremental business is already factored into its current guidance.
Cognizant would include automation as part of the deal.
"By applying artificial intelligence at the core of the workplace, alongside automation, human‑centric design and responsible governance, we are helping enable a more intelligent, resilient and future‑ready environment for Daimler Truck's global workforce,” Kumar said in the company’s press release.
Queries emailed to Cognizant on Thursday remained unanswered. Daimler Trucks said it does not provide information on supplier relationships.
Turnaround underway
Cognizant is in the early stages of a turnaround. In 2025, the company reported full-year revenue growth of 6.95%, the fastest in four years. The software and consultancy services provider beat analyst estimates and surpassed own expectations, growing faster than peers including Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Infosys Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, and Wipro Ltd.
This is in contrast with its performance till 2023, when its revenue shrank.
The revival is driven by mega deals. The company signed three contracts valued at $1 billion or more last year, higher than any of its top five peers. Cognizant is also mulling listing shares in India, which analysts say is aimed at improving its valuation.
Kumar joined Cognizant as its chief executive in January 2023, after working at Infosys for about two decades, most recently as its president until October 2022. His transition to Cognizant also triggered another point in an ongoing court battle.
Infosys accused Kumar of deliberately delaying the roll-out of its claims processing software while he was in talks to join Cognizant, Mint reported on 10 January 2025. Infosys also accused him of trying to poach people while in talks to join Cognizant.
At least 10 former Infosys executives had followed Kumar to Cognizant when he took over as CEO in January 2023. While seven of them joined directly from Infosys in various leadership positions, three served stints of 10 or more months in other companies.
Not just people, Ravi Kumar also took with him ‘murmurations,’ a crowdsourcing idea that Sikka had come up during his stint as Infosys CEO in 2014. Kumar launched Bluebolt, an internal crowdsourcing platform where employees across teams could pitch ideas either for clients or internally.
Cognizant’s shares are up 4.5% since he was named CEO on 12 January 2023. In contrast, TCS and Infosys’ shares fell 14.2% and 4.3%, respectively, during the period. HCLTech’s shares have risen 46%.