Hitachi Vantara names ex-Cognizant executive Gajen Kandiah as CEO

Kandiah will replace Toshiaki Tokunaga, current CEO and chairman of the Board. Tokunaga will remain as chairman, said the company.

"The opportunity to lead Hitachi Vantara is a thrilling one. I am confident that if we align our broad portfolio of data storage, analytics, industry-specific solutions and IT services behind a singular vision to delight our clients, we will become a true digital leader," Kandiah said in a statement late Tuesday.

During 15 years with Cognizant, he helped grow the company from $368 million in annual revenues to more than $16 billion.

He was most recently president of Cognizant's multi-billion-dollar digital business, a role in which he led the acquisitions of software engineering company Softvision, marketing solutions provider Netcentric, and Idea Couture, a digital innovation and technology services company.

"Thanks to strong internal development, strategic acquisitions, and the integration with Hitachi Consulting, we have added the capabilities we need to guide our customers from what's now to what's next. Kandiah has an impressive track record in rapidly scaling digital businesses," said Tokunaga.

Before joining Cognizant, Kandiah co-founded NerveWire, a venture capital-backed management consulting and systems integration firm, which was later acquired by Wipro.