Former TTS Director Lands Job With IT Services Company

Viktoria Kurpas/Shutterstock.com

Anil Cheriyan left GSA’s tech incubator this month to take a job in the private sector.

Anil Cheriyan, the longest serving executive director of the Technology Transformation Service—the General Services Administration’s technology innovation shop—announced last month that he was retiring from public service after just 18 months to pursue a private sector job “that I can’t turn down,” he said in an email to staff.

Cheriyan did not share his plans in his retirement announcement. But, on Monday, IT services company Cognizant announced Cheriyan is joining as the new executive vice president for strategy and technology starting August 3.

“As the company’s leader of technology, he will be responsible for informing strategy, digitizing the business, and strengthening IT and Security capabilities and resilience,” Cognizant said in a release.

In the new role, Cheriyan will have oversight of Cognizant’s global IT, global security and strategy, alliances and business development lines. He will report directly to CEO Brian Humphries, according to the release.

Cheriyan announced his plan to retire on June 30. His last day in government was July 17.

While GSA searches for his replacement, the agency asked another recently departed TTS employee, Bob DeLuca, former executive director of the Centers of Excellence, to take time out from his new role as deputy CIO at FDIC to come back as acting TTS director.