CEO Sukamal Banerjee, who joined Cyient in February 2025 as a former HCL Technologies vice-president, has implemented significant leadership changes at the family-led IT firm. According to reports from The Economic Times, Banerjee has brought in at least eight senior executives ranked as business heads and above since taking over. Key appointments include Kap Prabhakaran as chief technology officer in February, Rajkumar Ravindranathan as chief growth officer, and Kavita Kurup as chief people officer. Four additional business heads have joined over the past 18 months, marking one of the most significant leadership changes at the Hyderabad-based company in recent years.
The leadership changes come as Cyient faces significant challenges in competing with larger rivals. As reported by The Economic Times, by the time Coforge listed in 2010, Cyient (then Infotech Enterprises) reported revenue of ₹953 crore, more than both Coforge and Persistent Systems. Nearly 16 years later, both companies generate more than twice Cyient's annual revenue. Coforge and Persistent Systems ended last year with revenue of $1.87 billion and $1.65 billion respectively, up 29% and 17% from the previous year. Meanwhile, Cyient's revenue grew only 0.8% to $658 million, following a decline in the preceding year.
The company has experienced significant margin compression over recent years. According to The Economic Times, Cyient's operating margins declined to 12.2% last year, down 67 basis points from a year earlier and down from 16.1% two years ago. This decline coincided with the separation of its electronics manufacturing business into a separately listed entity. In June 2023, two months after Krishna Bodanapu took over as managing director, Cyient split its business into Cyient DET and Cyient DLM. DET houses research and development and IT services operations, accounting for roughly four-fifths of the group's $821 million revenue, while DLM contains the electronics manufacturing business.
Banerjee's strategy focuses on pursuing larger deals, improving margins, and repositioning the company toward faster-growing segments. As reported by The Economic Times, he stated that the company's large deal funnel reached the highest level in Cyient's history, with margin improvement remaining a clear priority. The company is pivoting toward higher-growth areas within engineering research and development, with analysts noting that automotive has been a slow-growth area while aerospace, defence, micro-mobility, medical devices, and semiconductor sectors are seeing improved demand. Cyient also announced its largest acquisition to date, purchasing Santa Clara-based Tao for $80 million in revenue, taking annual revenue to approximately $730 million.
Investor sentiment has deteriorated significantly, with Cyient's shares falling 22% since the start of 2026 and dropping to a three-year low in March. According to The Economic Times, the stock traded at ₹874.7 per share, down 0.2% from the previous close. In response to market pressure, the company announced its first buyback since FY20 in April, repurchasing up to 6.4 million shares (about 5.8% of outstanding shares) at ₹1,125 per share, representing a 33% premium to the buyback announcement price. The management and promoters are not participating in the buyback, with management citing that current market price does not adequately reflect underlying fundamentals.
