Francisco D'Souza (born 23 August 1968[1]) is an Indian-American entrepreneur and businessman, who is the former CEO and Vice Chairman of Cognizant — a Fortune 200 global professional services company – co-founded[2] the NASDAQ-100 company in 1994. He succeeded Lakshmi Narayanan as the CEO in 2007[3] and in 2018 was appointed Vice Chairman, while continuing his role as the CEO till 1 April 2019.
Francisco D'Souza | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 August 1968 |
| Alma mater | University of Macau Carnegie Mellon University |
| Occupation(s) | Former CEO & Vice Chairman, Cognizant |
Biography edit
Francisco D'Souza was born in Nairobi, Kenya as the son of Placido D'Souza[4]—an Indian Foreign Services officer and diplomat who grew up in Pune[4]— and Sushila.[5] He has his roots in Anjuna, Goa.[4] D'Souza spent his childhood in 11 countries and went on to do a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of East Asia Macau[6] and a Master of Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University.[6] He has three sisters, Jacinta, Lucia and Maria.[7]
Career edit
After his graduation from Tepper School of Business (Carnegie Mellon University), D'Souza joined Dun & Bradstreet as a management associate in 1992.[8] Cognizant began in 1994 as an in-house project of Dun & Bradstreet, led by D'Souza. From 1996, he held various leadership roles at Cognizant. He was elevated to CEO and joined the Board of Directors of Cognizant in January 2007, and promoted to the Vice Chairman of the Board in June 2018.[9]
In 2013, D'Souza joined the board of General Electric as its youngest director.[9] He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Carnegie Mellon University[10] and as Co-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the New York Hall of Science.[11]
D'Souza is a member of the World Economic Forum[12] and the 2019 Chairman of the World Economic Forum's IT Governors Steering Committee.[13] He sits on the Board of Directors[14] of The National Medal of Honor Museum.
In November 2019, MongoDB appointed D'Souza to its board of directors.[15]
In July 2020, Banco Santander appointed D'Souza to a top-tier executive position in support of its digital transformation strategy.[16]
Awards and honors edit
- 2005 - The Economic Times Entrepreneur Award[17]
- 2009 - named among "America's Best CEOs" by Institutional Investor magazine[18]
- 2013 - named among "100 CEO Leaders in STEM" by STEMconnector[19]
- 2013 - Recognized as the Best CEO, Forbes India
- 2014 - "Newsmaker of the Year" by The Financial Express[20]
- 2017 - #10 on Fortune Businessperson of the Year[21]
References edit
- ^ "Francisco D'Souza | Unique strategies for a flat world - Livemint". www.livemint.com. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- ^ "How & why Cognizant's Francisco D'Souza will define India in 2012". The Economic Times. 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- ^ "Terms of Service Violation". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- ^ a b c "Francisco D'Souza's meteoric rise. Inevitably outside Goa? - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- ^ "Goan Voice UK: Newsletter. Issue 2006-01. Aug. 25, 2006". www.goanvoice.org.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- ^ a b "Francisco D'Souza, CEO, Cognizant - Meet 9 Indian-origin CEOs 'ruling' the technology industry | The Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- ^ "CONDOLENCES: Sushila D'Souza, wife of Placido D'Souza". goanet-news.goanet.narkive.com. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- ^ "Young and Restless | Carnegie Mellon Today". www.cmu.edu. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- ^ a b "Francisco D'Souza Named Vice Chairman of Cognizant Board of Directors in Addition to Chief Executive Officer". News | Cognizant Technology Solutions. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- ^ University, Carnegie Mellon. "Board of Trustees - Leadership - Carnegie Mellon University". www.cmu.edu. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ "Board of Trustees". NYSCI. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ "Francisco D'Souza". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ "Cognizant CEO Francisco D'Souza named chairman of WEF IT and Electronics Governors community". The Economic Times. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
- ^ "The National Medal of Honor Museum - Foundation". The National Medal of Honor Museum. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ "MongoDB Appoints Francisco D'Souza to the Board of Directors". MongoDB. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ "Santander appoints three top technologists to executive positions". Finextra Research. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ "Ladies & gentlemen, the winners are..." The Economic Times. 28 September 2005. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- ^ "Institutional Investor 2009 America's Best CEOs". Institutional Investor.
- ^ "List of its 100 CEO Leaders in STEM". Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
- ^ "Winners | The Financial Express". expressitawards.financialexpress.com. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
- ^ "Francisco D'Souza". Fortune. 16 November 2017. Archived from the original on 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.