Infosys accuses Cognizant of poaching key talent to sabotage Helix platform
Infosys has alleged that two senior Cognizant executives, Chief People Officer Kathryn Diaz and Americas President Surya Gummadi played a significant role in hiring critical personnel who were part of formerly part of Helix team.
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Infosys has accused US IT firm Cognizant of poaching employees involved in its healthcare platform Helix. According to a report by Business Standard, Infosys has alleged that two senior Cognizant executives, Chief People Officer Kathryn Diaz and Americas President Surya Gummadi played a significant role in hiring critical personnel who were part of formerly part of Helix team.
The battle between two IT majors has reignited. Infosys, in January this year, made a similar allegation against Cognizant Chief Executive Officer Ravi Kumar S, who led Helix previously. The Indian IT firm alleged that Kumar had stalled the platform's rollout while negotiating his move to Cognizant.
Kumar resigned from Infosys in October 2022 and was appointed as Cognizant’s CEO in January 2023.
Infosys added that when Kumar was leading the Helix project he hired Shveta Arora and Ravi Kuchibhotla. Later both of them joined Cognizant in December 2023 and August 2024, respectively.
Cognizant has rejected Infosys's allegations, calling them 'misleading'. The US IT giant rebutted saying Infosys stole its trade secrets related to the TriZetto healthcare platform.
The legal battle between Cognizant and Infosys over intellectual property theft goes back to August 2024. However, Cognizant rejected claims asking Dallas court in the US to compel Cognizant to properly identify the trade secrets in question. Infosys said it would take decisive action to address any allegations that compromise "competitive standing".
The Bengaluru-based firm said that Gummadi would have documents related to the 2014 acquisition of TriZetto, as well as, knowledge of Cognizant’s strategic approach in the healthcare payer software and IT services markets both before and after the acquisition.
Both companies are vying to become a leading player in the healthcare space. Cognizant generates revenue of about $6 billion from its clients in the health and science sector.
Cognizant said that Infosys has no evidence suggesting that Gummadi and Diaz have documents pertaining to the acquisition of TriZetto. The company said Kumar and the other two were hired based on their skills.
A mint report said that Infosys might treble the damages sought from Cognizant.
