Evernorth names Prashanti Bodugum to lead Hyderabad innovation hub

Evernorth Health Services, a division of The Cigna Group, has announced the appointment of Prashanti Reddy Bodugum as the new Head of its Hyderabad Innovation Hub, effective 30 June 2025. Prashanti steps into the role following Ashok Venkatachalam, who led the hub for the past 15 months and will now transition into a new position within Evernorth.

With a career spanning over 26 years, Prashanti brings deep cross-sectoral experience across healthcare, retail, and financial services. Her expertise lies in digital transformation, global delivery leadership, and building diverse, high-performing technology teams. She previously served as Vice President at Walmart Global Tech (GCC) and held leadership roles at Optum, GE, and Capgemini.

At Walmart, Prashanti was instrumental in reshaping the Chennai tech centre into a global innovation engine, supporting critical digital, analytics, and automation initiatives across multiple FTSE and Fortune 500 companies. Her leadership style has been marked by a strong focus on outcomes, inclusive culture-building, and scalable innovation delivery.

Commenting on her appointment, Prashanti said, “The Hyderabad Innovation Hub already stands as a powerful engine of talent. I look forward to working with the teams to build next-gen solutions and foster the next wave of tech leadership.”

Her appointment is viewed as a strategic step in Evernorth’s ongoing efforts to evolve its global capability centres. Neel Chopdekar, SVP and COO of IT at Evernorth, noted, “Prashanti’s entrepreneurial drive and ability to scale operations with agility make her the right leader for this phase of growth and innovation.”

Beyond her operational leadership, Prashanti is a recognised advocate for women in technology. She has led initiatives such as ReSpark, CodeHers, and iLead, aimed at advancing women into senior technical roles.

Her appointment underscores Evernorth’s commitment to strengthening its global presence and investing in leadership that reflects both technical depth and a people-first mindset.

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