Information technology (IT) major Cognizant has created the position of Chief Learning Officer (CLO) and named Thirumala (Thiru) Arohi to the role. He will report directly to Kathy Diaz, Chief People Officer.
Arohi, who brings over 30 years of experience, was previously Executive Vice President and Head of Education, Training & Assessment, and Learning Platforms at Infosys. He is widely recognized for building scalable learning ecosystems and advancing innovation in digital education. His earlier leadership roles give him a strong business-centric perspective on the role of learning in driving performance and growth.
As CLO, Arohi will head Cognizant’s global learning and development function, focusing on reimagining learning programs, exploring new upskilling models, building partnerships, and advancing thought leadership on talent, technology, and the future of work.
The new role underscores Cognizant’s strategic emphasis on workforce transformation and skilling in the AI era. Industry peers like Infosys and TCS have long invested in learning ecosystems, while Accenture has deeply embedded learning leadership into its talent strategy.
Cognizant, under CEO Ravi Kumar S, has been ramping up AI-focused training initiatives. On July 30, the company launched AI training data services to accelerate enterprise-scale AI model development, leveraging a decade of expertise across domains and processes. More recently, it partnered with Rohan Murty-led Workfabric AI to train and deploy 1,000 “context engineers” over the next year to advance agentic AI adoption.
Cognizant has already trained 4 lakh employees in AI as part of its goal to upskill 1 million people by 2026. CEO Ravi Kumar emphasized that the strategy combines internal adoption, client delivery, and community-focused initiatives.
Notably, Kumar was recently recognized by Time Magazine as one of the Top 100 most influential people in AI in 2025, making him the only Indian IT leader on the list.
