New Delhi, Jun 4 (IANS): In a significant development, IT major Cognizant has appointed Rajesh Nambiar, Chairman and Managing Director of Cognizant India, as the President of Digital Business & Technology (DB&T), effective from Friday.

Nambiar, succeeding Malcolm Frank, Executive Vice President and President, Digital Business & Technology, will continue as Chairman, Cognizant India.

According to a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nambiar will succeed Malcolm Frank.

On May 28, Frank had notified Cognizant of his intent to retire, effective September 1, 2021 after a distinctive and highly impactful 16 years with the company.

"I'm delighted to appoint an internal leader with Rajesh's operating rigor and wealth of experience to this critical and expansive role. Drawing on the depth and richness of his technology, commercial, and delivery background, Rajesh has quickly embodied our culture and established himself as a trusted leader among our 200,000 associates in India," said Brian Humphries, Chief Executive Officer, Cognizant.

"This goes well beyond his outstanding job of developing and leading Operation C3 -- Cognizant Combats COVID-19. Having him based in India will bring the added benefit of driving better DB&T alignment with Delivery," Humphries said in an internal note.

Nambiar brings deep knowledge of applications, data, AI, analytics, infrastructure, cloud, and consulting to his new role.

Prior to joining Cognizant last November, he was the Chairman and President of Ciena India, a leading network solutions partner.

"I am thrilled and humbled to assume the leadership of Digital Business & Technology (DB&T). I am passionate about innovation and the power of advanced technologies to help clients reimagine their processes, build more compelling experiences, and stay relevant to the people they serve," Nambiar said in a company's internal note.

"Living and working in India, which I will continue to do, has helped me deeply understand our company's strong operating model and how we deliver value to clients," he added.

Earlier in his career, he served as the global leader of IBM Application Services, where he was responsible for an $8 billion P&L that included data, AI, and analytics, oversaw the building of technology practices offering a range of applications, and managed profitable delivery for thousands of clients.