Rackspace Technology (RXT) has named Gajen Kandiah as its new CEO, effective September 3, 2025. Amar Maletira, who has led the company since 2022, will transition to Vice Chairman of the Board. The move comes at a time when enterprises increasingly distribute workloads across multiple cloud providers, creating a demand for managed services that simplify governance, integration, and operational execution.
Founded in 1998 in San Antonio, Rackspace started as a web hosting provider. Over the years, it transitioned to managed cloud services, helping enterprises operate workloads across Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. Unlike hyperscalers, Rackspace does not own massive infrastructure. Instead, its value lies in managing complexity: compliance, governance, integration, and performance.
Why Kandiah
Kandiah’s appointment seems a deliberate choice for operational depth. He is not a “visionary outsider” brought in for headlines. Instead, he is a proven operator with experience scaling large service organizations and delivering at enterprise scale. At Cognizant, he participated in transforming a company of hundreds of millions in revenue into a global powerhouse exceeding $16 billion. At Hitachi, he oversaw the delivery of complex infrastructure, software, and AI solutions to global clients.
Rackspace faces a market that rewards precision. Execution, trust, and reliability are essential to its clients, many of whom operate in regulated industries where mistakes are costly. Kandiah’s career gives him the ability to align people, processes, and technology exactly the skill set required to ensure that Rackspace delivers on its promise of seamless multicloud management.
Board chair Jeffrey Benjamin emphasized this point: “Gajen is a proven operator across services, infrastructure, software, and AI.”
In his first message as CEO, Kandiah said he felt humbled by the appointment and emphasized that his starting point would be customers. He thanked outgoing CEO Amar Maletira for a smooth handover and noted that he looks forward to listening and learning from Rackers, clients, and partners.
Holding Ground in the Shadow of Giants
The multicloud field has grown increasingly competitive. Amazon Web Services reported $25 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2025. Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud also recorded double-digit growth in the same period, with both continuing to expand global market share. Together, the three hyperscalers set the pace for infrastructure and platform services.
Other firms stake out different positions. IBM, through Red Hat, concentrates on regulated industries with open-source frameworks. Nutanix continues to expand in hyperconverged infrastructure. Accenture and Deloitte lean on advisory influence, embedding multicloud decisions into broader enterprise transformations.
Rackspace falls between those categories. It does not operate its own hyperscale platform, nor does it compete in boardroom consulting. Instead, it offers managed services for integration, compliance, and governance, a role that enterprises adopt when internal teams cannot absorb the full complexity of multicloud operations.
Strategic Priorities Under Kandiah
Kandiah’s mandate is clear. Rackspace will advance an AI-first multicloud strategy, focusing on the design, build, and operation of governed multicloud operations for AI and data workloads. This strategy extends across private, public, and sovereign clouds, leveraging hyperscalers, regional partners, and the open ecosystem.
Platform innovation will be a priority, particularly in cloud management and private AI. Kandiah aims to strengthen partnerships, improve operational execution, and deliver secure, governed solutions for regulated industries. The goal is to simplify multicloud operations for enterprise clients while capitalizing on the growing demand for managed services.
The Money and the Market’s Response
Disclosures filed alongside the announcement show Kandiah will receive a base salary of $1 million, with a target bonus equal to 150 percent of that figure. He will also be awarded 4 million restricted stock units and 6 million stock options vesting over four years. The package ties compensation to measurable performance outcomes.
Markets registered a muted but positive reaction. Rackspace shares rose 1.3 percent in pre-market trading following the announcement, reflecting early confidence in the leadership transition.
Revenue numbers show the scale of the challenge ahead. Rackspace generated just under $3 billion in 2024, a figure that proves its mid-tier position when compared with hyperscalers but still places it in contention for enterprises seeking managed integration services.
Lessons From the Past, Pressure for the Future
Rackspace has weathered significant change over the past decade. Once best known for hosting, it has pivoted into multicloud services in response to shifting enterprise demand. That transition has involved restructuring, debt management, and sharpened focus on governance rather than infrastructure.
The appointment of Kandiah fits a wider industry pattern. Companies delivering services across complex ecosystems increasingly look to executives who have scaled global operations. Kandiah’s tenure at Cognizant coincided with rapid growth, while his leadership at Hitachi gave him direct oversight of infrastructure and data-driven services. Both roles provide grounding for Rackspace’s current challenges.
