Infosys vs Cognizant: Why two IT giants are fighting over techies in US
Infosys vs Cognizant
fight, Indian IT giant
Infosys
has named two top
Cognizant
executives as key figures in what it calls an anti-competitive strategy aimed at blocking its healthcare platform in the US. In a joint court filing,
Infosys
identified Cognizant's President for Americas Surya Gummadi and Chief People Officer
Kathryn Diaz
as central to the dispute over talent and trade secrets.
The legal battle revolves around TriZetto, a healthcare software platform acquired by Cognizant in 2014, which Infosys says competes with its own product, Helix. Infosys alleges that
Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S
, who once led Helix at Infosys, delayed its launch and later hired key staff to weaken its prospects after joining Cognizant in January 2023. He had resigned from Infosys in October 2022.
Infosys vs Cognizant: How the dispute began
The conflict began in August 2024, when Cognizant's TriZetto filed a lawsuit against Infosys in a Texas federal court. It alleged that Infosys had misused data obtained under non-disclosure agreements to build a competing product.
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Infosys responded with counterclaims, accusing Cognizant of unfairly poaching senior employees and using trade secrets to undermine Helix. In its January 2025 lawsuit, Infosys said these actions were part of a broader strategy to limit competition in the US healthcare IT market.
Infosys and Cognizant Targeting top roles
In its latest filing, Infosys said Gummadi and Diaz were key to Cognizant's efforts to restrict Helix's market entry. It claimed that the senior-level hiring was not coincidental but part of a structured plan that weakened Infosys's position.
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Infosys also alleged that Ravi Kumar's role in overseeing Helix before his exit gave Cognizant an unfair advantage once he became its CEO.
Cognizant's response
Cognizant rejected Infosys's counterclaims and asked the court to dismiss them, saying the charges lacked evidence and failed to define the market properly.
'Infosys was caught red-handed misappropriating TriZetto trade secrets that Infosys originally had access to through non-disclosure and access agreements (NDAAs),' Cognizant said in its response.
The company also said Infosys had blocked an audit that could have verified the theft of confidential data.
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Infosys' monopoly claims
Earlier, Infosys accused Cognizant of abusing its market power by reducing output and inflating prices, which it said hurt customer interests and limited competition.
'Monopoly power may be pled directly—through allegations of supra-competitive prices and restricted output—or inferred from the structure and composition of the relevant market,' Infosys stated in its court filing.
Cognizant responded that Infosys failed to prove monopoly, arguing that a 65% market share is not sufficient on its own and that Infosys had not clearly defined the market boundaries.
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The legal fight comes as Indian IT firms face slowing growth and increasing competition in the US market. With healthcare platforms emerging as a key vertical, the battle over talent and trade secrets may shape future competition between Infosys and Cognizant.
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