Vishal Salvi

Vishal Salvi serves as the global head of Cognizant’s Cybersecurity Service Line, where he leads the firm’s global cybersecurity strategy, strengthens threat protection capabilities and advances digital trust across client enterprises. Under his leadership, Cognizant is scaling its cybersecurity offerings to meet the evolving needs of global organizations, with a focus on resilience, regulatory alignment and secure digital transformation.

With over three decades of experience in cybersecurity and information technology, Salvi has held influential leadership roles across some of the world’s most respected organizations. Prior to joining Cognizant, he served as CEO at Quick Heal Technologies Ltd., where he drove strategic growth, expanded enterprise security solutions and led innovation in threat intelligence and artificial intelligence-based protection. His earlier roles include global chief information security officer and head of cybersecurity services at Infosys, where he built and scaled a global cybersecurity practice, partner, cybersecurity at PwC, and senior leadership positions at HDFC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and others, where he laid the foundation for robust security programmes in the financial sector.

Salvi is widely recognized as a thought leader in the cybersecurity domain. He has served as an independent director at the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), contributing to national cybersecurity policy and governance frameworks. He continues to advise multiple boards and councils, helping shape industry standards and best practices. His influence spans sectors and he is frequently invited to speak at global cybersecurity conferences, where he shares insights on topics ranging from zero-trust architecture and cyber resilience to board-level risk oversight and the future of digital trust. His keynote addresses and panel contributions have consistently emphasized the need for inclusive, scalable and proactive cybersecurity strategies.

Beyond his corporate leadership, Salvi actively supports innovation in the cybersecurity ecosystem. He advises emerging technology firms and contributes to industry think tanks focused on secure-by-design principles, privacy engineering and AI governance. His work has helped bridge the gap between policy and practice, especially in areas like data protection, regulatory compliance and secure cloud adoption.

Salvi holds a degree in Computer Engineering and an MBA in Finance from Bombay University. He has further sharpened his leadership capabilities through executive education programmes at Harvard, Stanford and IIM Ahmedabad. He is a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and a DSCI Certified Privacy Professional. His contributions have been recognized with numerous accolades from institutions such as DSCI, ISACA and the CSO Forum, reflecting his enduring impact on the cybersecurity landscape.

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