Achal Kataria

Commander
DISC Type : D

Vice President & Country Head -India, Head- Large Deals APJ, Executive Leadership at Cognizant

Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Overview

As Vice President & Country Head for Cognizant India, Achal Kataria leverages over 29 years of IT experience to drive profitable growth. He specializes in digital transformation, P&L management, and strategic partnerships in AI and cloud. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Pune University.

He is a multi-year award-winning technology leader, having been inducted into the CIO Hall of Fame by IDG India in 2020.

Personality Overview

Very Quick

Decisive

Impact-Driven

They do not care very much about building rapport or relationships.  They prefer to move quickly, and expect the same from others. They are less concerned about the product and more about its potential impact.

Topics They Care About

Generative AI Adoption
He actively discusses leveraging Gen AI and strategic cloud partnerships to power enterprise transformation and help clients navigate economic uncertainty by reinvesting savings into growth initiatives.
India's Tech Growth
He is focused on India's role as a global innovation hub, emphasizing talent development, reskilling in AI, and expanding operations into tier-2 cities.
Emerging Tech Applications
He has led partnerships to apply advanced digital capabilities, such as analytics and IoT, to emerging technologies like commercial drones for industries including agriculture and logistics.

Media Appearances

Achal has no verified media appearances

Work History

1-2024
Vice President & Country Head -India, Head- Large Deals APJ, Executive Leadership at Cognizant
9-2021 - 1-2024
Vice President & Country Head -India at Cognizant
11-2017 - 6-2021
Vice President & Global Head of Technology / CIO at EXL
10-2010 - 10-2017
Vice President- Head Global Technology Operations at EXL
5-2007 - 10-2010
Director - Infrastructure Management Services at Tech Mahindra

Education

1990 - 1994
BE from Pune University
1988 - 1990
XII from Modern School

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 30 Location : Gurgaon, Haryana, India Job Level : Leadership Designation : Vice President & Country Head -India, Head- Large Deals APJ, Executive Leadership at Cognizant
URL has been copied!

Insights For Selling To Achal

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Objectively showcase the impact that your product creates
  • Make sure that you circle back fast on any action items, it wins their trust
  • Speak about competitive differentiation that your product offers

DONT's

  • Do not spend too much time focusing on product tech or features
  • Do not hesitate from asking counter questions, just avoid challenging their authority
  • Don’t focus on process and rules, give the impression of being a ‘gets it done’ person

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Achal is

  • Confidence in impact is paramount to them, followed by a sense of achievement and ROI.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Achal

  • If they decide not to go ahead, they will say no without hesitation.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Achal move?

  • If convinced, they can reach decisions quite fast.
  • Can Achal take some risk or not?

  • They do not shy away from taking risks, but can be quite binary about them.

You And Achal

Personality Compatibility


Other Cognizant Employees

Explore more public profiles from related professionals at the same organization.

More Profiles

Discover additional public profiles from our index.

Search more profiles

Looking for someone else? Search here for anyone.

Or visit Humantic AI to know more.