Vibha Rustagi, head of itaas, a Cognizant Company, is being honored with the Vanguard Award for Associates and Affiliates, which recognizes the important contributions made by equipment manufacturers and service suppliers to cable industry innovation, growth and progress. Her company’s knowledge of the complete digital video ecosystem helps cable, telecommunications and technology companies deliver a broad range of services to consumer devices such as set-tops, tablets and smartphones.
Rustagi has been part of the cable and telecommunications industries for more than 25 years. She started her career at Scientific-Atlanta, now Cisco Systems, where she was integrally involved in the design and launch of the first digital networks and was awarded seven patents for her work on pay TV and remote controls. She then assumed new roles as leader of S-A’s international business development marketing of set-top boxes and digital system products.
In 1999, Rustagi was one of the three founders of itaas and served as CEO and president until Cognizant bought the company in 2014. Her expertise and strategic vision enabled helped itaas grow from a three-person startup to a financially sound and successful company.
Rustagi has received plaudits from the cable industry on several occasions, Multichannel News spotlighted her as one of three women who have made significant achievements in technology positions and Interactive TV Today awarded her the Leadership Award at the TV of Tomorrow Show for her work in interactive and multiplatform television.
She is one of 12 cable executives in the Communications Technology Cable Hall of Fame. At the 2014 Cable Show, Rustagi was inducted into the Cable TV Pioneers.
Rustagi holds a bachelor’s of science in electrical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Georgia State University.
Fun Fact:
Rustagi founded the Indus Entrepreneurs, where she mentored young women and taught the value of entrepreneurism at local high schools. She has also provided scholarships for outstanding female engineers to the University of Pittsburgh.
