Everest Group has appointed Christopher Kujawa as its new executive vice president and chief human resources officer, effective 20 January, 2026. Kujawa will report to president and chief executive officer Jim Williamson and join Everest’s executive leadership team. He succeeds Gail Van Beveren, who has served as interim CHRO and will remain with the company for a short transition period.
Kujawa brings more than 25 years of global human resources experience across financial services and technology-enabled business services. Most recently, he served as CHRO at Conduent from March 2020 to September 2025. During his five-and-a-half-year tenure, Kujawa led the global HR function for the $3-billion technology-led business services company with over 55,000 employees across 20 countries. Working closely with the board and senior leadership, he played a central role during a period of significant organisational change, including redesigning the company’s operating model, modernising HR systems and analytics, and aligning workforce strategy with governance and executive priorities.
At Conduent, Kujawa also oversaw large-scale cost and portfolio actions and the execution of four divestitures. Under his leadership, HR operating costs were reduced by $15 million annually, employee engagement rose by seven points, voluntary attrition declined by 24 per cent, and the company earned multiple external recognitions.
Prior to Conduent, Kujawa spent over six years at American Express between February 2014 and March 2020 as global vice president–human capital capabilities. In this role, he led global centres of excellence spanning talent, organisation effectiveness, people analytics, and mergers and acquisitions. He supported enterprise-wide transformation initiatives, led strategic workforce planning efforts, and established the company’s human capital analytics capability to improve decision-making around leadership, retention, and diversity. He also played a key role in multiple acquisitions, joint ventures, and large-scale separations, including the carve-out of Global Business Travel.
Earlier in his career, Kujawa spent nearly 12 years at Ally Financial and its predecessor GMAC, holding progressively senior HR leadership roles across the US, UK, and Europe between 2002 and 2014. His responsibilities during this period included leading HR for high-growth businesses, supporting IPO readiness, advising the C-suite during the global financial crisis, and serving as CHRO for GMAC RFC in the UK, one of the country’s largest mortgage lenders at the time.
Kujawa began his career in human capital consulting with Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting), where he worked from 1993 to 1998, supporting Fortune 500 clients on change management, organisation redesign, and HR transformation initiatives.
Kujawa brings a strong track record in leadership development, talent management, and organisational effectiveness, adding that his experience will be critical as Everest focuses on disciplined execution, profitability and long-term value creation.
Kujawa holds a master’s degree in Industrial Relations from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from South Dakota State University.
