WEF names Jessica Finn (Cognizant) a Young Global Leader for 2026
Cognizant’s health, life sciences & education sector boss Jessica Finn has been selected as a 2026 World Economic Forum ‘Young Global Leader’. She is the only representative from Australia.
Based out of Melbourne, Finn joined Cognizant after close to a decade at PwC in late 2023 as the technology consultancy’s public sector & health consulting leader for Australia, before moving into her current role six months later.
She will now take on a secondary role as one of this year’s World Economic Forum ‘Young Global Leaders’, the only member selected from Australia among the 118-strong 2026 class of accomplished leaders still under the age of 40.
“I’ve always been driven by purpose, by the belief that the work we do should genuinely improve lives, and that leadership is about how you show up for people, especially the teams you’re trusted to lead,” Finn said. “To be recognised as the only Australian alongside such an inspiring group of global leaders who share that mindset is incredibly humbling.”
An arts graduate of the University of Melbourne, Finn joined PwC as a consultant in 2014 following a further masters degree in management, and over nine years worked her way up the firm’s ranks to become a director of digital transformation – before then crossing to Cognizant when PwC offloaded its government, education & healthcare practice (now Scyne Advisory) in 2023.
As part of the YGL program, Finn will engage with a diverse cohort of emerging leaders from 55 countries drawn from the public, business, science, cultural, and sporting spheres, who together share a desire to help solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Finn will also become part of a 1,400-plus alumni community, which happens to include Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S.
Other recent YGL members from Australia also include now Washington DC-based Boston Consulting Group managing director and partner Caroline Blanch Israel, who co-leads the strategy consultancy’s global grocery & mass retail segment, along with Sydney-based Bain & Company partner and Australian healthcare & life sciences practice leader Lucy d’Arville.
Meanwhile, this year’s appointees from the top-level international consulting realm further include BCG managing director & partner Ramsey Baker of the firm’s Atlanta office, Washington-based Bain partner Annie Medaglia, and Annie Medaglia, a McKinsey & Company partner who leads the management consultancy’s Latin American transformation practice out of Panama.
“I’m looking forward to beginning this three‑year leadership journey and meeting the extraordinary class at the upcoming kick‑off in Geneva, learning from one another and contributing to the forum’s work. I’m grateful, excited, and very mindful of what an incredible opportunity this is,” said Finn, who has also led a number of women’s empowerment initiatives since arriving at Cognizant.
She continued; “I decided early on that I’d work in sectors that genuinely improve people’s lives – health, education, aged care, and public services. Areas that make a difference in the community. I also decided that whatever influence I earned, I would use it to lift others and not just advance myself. These decisions later became my guiding principles and have shaped my career.”
