Cognizant appoints Carla Ramchand as managing director for A/NZ region

Global technology services firm Cognizant has appointed Sydney-based former Avanade CEO Carla Ramchand as its new managing director for Australia and New Zealand.

Carla Ramchand has led the Australian branch of Avanade since mid-2024, altogether spending close to a decade in senior roles with the Accenture-owned consultancy across two stints, split by time at IBM and preceded by over a decade at Telstra.

Based in Sydney, Ramchand takes over from Rob Marchiori, who had led Cognizant Australian business since the beginning of 2023 before moving on to Westpac earlier this year, and will now be responsible for a team of more than 1,500 professionals.

“I am delighted to welcome such a highly respected and impactful leader to Cognizant,” said Asia Pacific & Japan president Ganesh Ayyar. “Carla’s outstanding track record of leading teams through growth, her passion for delivering client outcomes, and her global experience make her the right leader for our vibrant Australia and New Zealand business.”

Ramchand first joined Avanade as COO in 2015, prior to which she served as an executive director for networks, applications & services at Telstra – now a close Cognizant partner. She then returned to Avande following a period as executive general manager for cybersecurity at IBM, and held a number of regional ‘growth markets’ leadership roles prior to being appointed local CEO.

Among those senior growth markets roles, which covered regions such as Australia, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, the Middle East and Latin America, Ramchand served as COO and managing director for Avanade’s technology business group, and is credited with having played an instrumental role in scaling the firm’s technology consulting offering across six key markets.

Now she will be responsible for leading a team of over 1,500 professionals spread across eight outlets in Australia and New Zealand, including a delivery centre in Adelaide, to help drive the consultancy’s regional growth through its ‘AI Builder strategy’ – which aims to help clients move beyond experimentation and bridge the gap between AI investment and business impact.

“I’m excited to be joining Cognizant at a time when Australian and New Zealand organisations are focused on turning rapid technology change into real, measurable outcomes,” Ramchand said. “Cognizant has a strong local team and deep global capability and I’m looking forward to working with clients and partners to help deliver this transformation at pace.”

Rob Marchiori, who Ramchand replaces, left for Westpac at the start of the year and is now the bank’s CIO for digital, data & AI. His predecessor, Jane Livesey, who Ayyar recently replaced as Asia Pacific & Japan president, has in a roundabout way since been appointed as A/NZ managing director director for Microsoft – Avanade’s original joint founder and ongoing alliance partner.