Item 1A. Risk Factors.
Our operations and financial results are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those described below, that could adversely affect our business, reputation, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and the trading price of our common stock. The disclosures in this section reflect our beliefs and opinions as to factors that could materially and adversely affect us in the future. References to past events are provided by way of example only and are not intended to be a complete listing or a representation as to whether or not such factors have occurred in the past or their likelihood of occurring in the future. These risk factors do not identify all risks that we face; there may be other risks and uncertainties we are not currently aware of or that we currently deem not to be material but that may become material in the future.
Risks Relating to Our Business
An inability to attract new customers, retain existing customers and sell services to customers could adversely impact our revenue and results of operations.
Our ability to maintain or increase our revenues and profit may be impacted by a number of factors, including our ability to attract new customers, retain existing customers and sell additional, comparable or, in the case of accounts with substandard margins, services with greater gross margins to our customers. We may incur higher customer acquisition or retention costs as we seek to grow our customer base and expand our markets. Moreover, to the extent we are unable to retain and sell services to existing customers, including as part of our initiative to address existing accounts that have substandard margins, our revenue and results of operations may decrease.
Our customer contracts typically have an average duration of over five years and, unless terminated, may be renewed or automatically extended on a month-to-month basis. Our customers have no obligation to renew their services after their initial contract periods expire, and any termination fees associated with an early termination may not be sufficient to recover our costs associated with such contracts. The loss of business from any of our major customers, whether by the cancellation of existing contracts, the failure to obtain new business or lower overall demand for our services, could adversely impact our revenue and results of operations.
Table of Contents
We may not meet our growth and productivity objectives and maintain our capital allocation strategy.
Our goals for profitability and growth rely upon a number of assumptions, including our ability to make successful investments to grow and further develop our business and simplify our operations. The risks and challenges we face in connection with our strategies include expanding our professional services capability, expanding in areas where we currently have a small presence, ensuring that our services remain competitive in a rapidly changing technological environment and streamlining our operations to optimize operational efficiency. We may invest significantly in key strategic areas to drive long-term revenue growth and share gains. These investments may adversely affect our near-term revenue growth and results of operations, and we cannot guarantee that they will ultimately be successful or produce any or all of the long-term benefits that we expect. In addition, our productivity initiatives are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including assumptions about cash expenditures, cost savings and the effectiveness of the Company’s reduced spend and risks affecting the timing and amount of workforce rebalancing charges, payments and related savings, and we may not fully achieve the expected operational expense savings and other benefits anticipated.
Additionally, emerging business and delivery models and use of new technologies, including agentic AI, may unfavorably impact demand and profitability for our solutions or services. If we are unable to find, and maintain relationships with, partners to develop cutting-edge innovations in a highly competitive and rapidly evolving environment or are unable to implement and integrate such innovations with sufficient speed and versatility, we could fail in our ongoing efforts to maintain and increase our revenue and profit margins, achieve and sustain our targeted growth rates or improve our market share, operating margins and competitive position generally or in specific markets or services.
Our ability and decisions to return capital to stockholders depend on a variety of factors, including our ability to maintain and increase operating margins, cash flow generated from operations, our cash and investment balances, our net income and our overall liquidity position, as well as our debt balance, potential alternative uses of cash and anticipated future economic conditions and financial results. Failure to carry out our capital allocation strategy may adversely impact stockholders’ perception of our business and the trading price of our common stock.
Competition in the markets in which we operate may adversely impact our results of operations.
Our competitors include incumbents that have expanded their offerings to migration and management of cloud-based environments; companies that use labor-based models and leverage talent pools primarily in lower-cost countries that have grown to offer a broad range of services with a worldwide presence; and advisory-focused system integrators specializing in bringing together disparate technology environments. Our competitiveness is based on factors including quality of services, technical skills and capabilities, industry knowledge and experience, financial value, ability to innovate and respond to rapid and continuing changes in technology to serve the evolving needs of our customers, intellectual property and methods, contracting flexibility, and speed of execution. If we are unable to compete based on such factors, our results of operations and business prospects could be harmed.
This competition may decrease our revenue and place downward pressure on operating margins in our industry, particularly for contract extensions or renewals. As a result, we may not be able to maintain our current revenue and operating margins, or achieve favorable operating margins, for contracts extended or renewed in the future. If we fail to create and sustain an efficient and effective cost structure that scales with revenues during periods with declining revenues, our margins and results of operations may be adversely affected.
Companies with whom we have alliances in certain areas are or may become competitors in other areas. In addition, companies with whom we have alliances also may acquire or form alliances with competitors, which could reduce their business with us. If we are unable to effectively manage these complicated relationships with alliance peers, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Table of Contents
Our business could be adversely impacted if we do not successfully manage and/or develop our relationships with critical suppliers and partners.
Our business employs a wide variety of products and services from a number of suppliers and partners around the world. Our relationships with them are critical to our ability to provide many of our services and solutions, and our relationships with various alliance partners allow us to enter new markets and take advantage of existing ecosystems built and sustained by our alliance partners. There can be no assurance that we will be able to develop and maintain such relationships, that the products and services will be available on the expected timelines or for anticipated prices, or that the financial terms of our relationships will remain affordable.
Among other things, such partners may in the future decide to compete with us, form exclusive or more favorable arrangements with our competitors or otherwise reduce our access to their technology, products or services. In addition, our alliance partners may also experience reduced demand for their technology, including as a result of changes in technology, which could reduce demand for our services and solutions. Furthermore, certain of our customers may demand flexibility with regard to products or third-party service providers, and our contractual commitments to certain suppliers and partners may limit our ability to respond to those preferences. Similarly, changes in customer preferences have affected, and may in the future continue to affect, our relationships with certain suppliers. For example, as our relationship with IBM following the Spin-off continues to evolve, the amount of revenue generated by customers consuming IBM’s content through our service contracts has declined and may continue to decline, while having a limited impact on profitability. If we are unable to predict or prepare for changes in the evolution of our relationships with our alliance partners and suppliers or otherwise grow our services content, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.
If we are not able to maintain, or realize the expected benefits from, our relationships for any reason, we may be less competitive, and our ability to offer attractive services and solutions to address the needs and demands of our customers and our results of operations could be adversely affected. Any performance failure on the part of our critical suppliers or alliance partners, or the discontinuance by such suppliers or alliance partners of technologies or services that we have relied on them to provide for our customers, could impact our performance or require us to engage alternative third parties to perform the services at our cost or to perform them ourselves, any of which could deprive us of potential revenue or adversely impact our profitability. Further, changes in the business condition (financial or otherwise) of our suppliers or partners could subject us to losses and affect our ability to bring our offerings to market. Additionally, the failure of our suppliers and partners to deliver products and services in sufficient quantities, in a timely manner, and in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations could adversely affect our business. Any defective products or inadequate services received from suppliers or partners could reduce the reliability of our services and harm our reputation. We may not be able to quickly replace or secure alternative products or suppliers, and we may be forced to absorb higher costs, reduce margins, or adjust our pricing. Supply chain interruptions could harm our relationships with our customers, prevent us from acquiring new customers, harm our operational efficiency, financial performance, and reputation, and materially and adversely affect our business.
If we are not able to continue addressing and adapting to technological developments and trends that serve customer demands or drive efficiency, our growth plans, market share and financial performance could be negatively affected.
Our growth strategy depends in part on our ability to continue to develop and implement services and solutions that anticipate and respond to rapid and continuing changes in technology, offerings and industry standards to serve the evolving demands and needs of our customers. If we fail to respond and adapt successfully to technology developments and trends and customer demands in a timely or cost-effective manner or fail to effectively leverage new technologies into our services and solutions, or if our competitors, new entrants or other third parties respond to such challenges and/or adopt new technologies more quickly or successfully than we do, the demand for our services and solutions may diminish.
We have made and expect to continue to make investments in new technologies, including in AI, generative AI and agentic AI. We sometimes dedicate a significant amount of resources to our development efforts before knowing to what extent our investments will result in services and solutions the market will accept. The adoption and use of new technologies that are still in their early stages, such as AI, generative AI and agentic AI capabilities, involve significant
Table of Contents
risks and uncertainties. In addition, investments in technology systems, capabilities, talent and resources may not deliver the benefits or perform as expected, may be replaced or become obsolete more quickly than expected, or may reduce or replace some of our current services and offerings, which could result in operational difficulties or additional costs. If we do not sufficiently invest in new technologies and adapt to industry developments, if we are unable to commercialize them in our services and solutions, evolve, expand and scale them effectively with sufficient speed and versatility, if we do not make the right strategic investments to respond to these developments and successfully drive innovation or if we do not adapt to these developments as effectively as our competition and/or new entrants to our industry, our results of operations and our ability to develop and maintain a competitive advantage and to execute on our growth strategy could be negatively affected.
If we are unable to attract and retain key personnel and other skilled employees, our business could be harmed.
If any of our key employees were to leave, we could face substantial difficulty in hiring qualified successors and could experience a loss in productivity while any successor obtains the necessary training and experience. In particular, we have experienced senior management changes in the last year, and may continue to experience further changes, which may adversely impact our business as we transition those roles. Such transitions can increase the risk of turnover among key personnel, require significant time and attention from management and the Board, hinder strategic planning, impact the effectiveness of our internal control environment and create uncertainty among investors, employees, customers and others regarding the Company’s future direction and performance. Further, although we have arrangements with some of our executive officers designed to promote retention, our employment relationships are generally at-will, and key employees may leave us. We intend to continue to hire highly qualified personnel with relevant skills and experience consistent with our current business strategy and offerings, but may not be able to attract, assimilate or retain similarly qualified personnel in the future. Further, for certain executives where a significant portion of compensation is in the form of equity grants, our ability to attract, retain, and motivate such employees may be adversely affected by our recent stock price volatility or our ability to obtain stockholder approval to provide additional stock to our employees.
In addition, much of our future success depends on the continued service, availability and integrity of skilled employees, including technical, sales and staff resources. Skilled and experienced personnel in the areas where we compete often are in high demand, and competition for their talents is often intense.
Inability to attract and retain skilled employees could intensify the adverse impact of a shortage of critical skills necessary to serve our customers, keep pace with the rapid and continuous technological changes in our industry and further our growth strategy, including talent trained in different areas of AI, machine learning, software engineering and other market-leading skills and capabilities in new technologies. Changing demographics and labor workforce trends also may result in a shortage of or insufficient knowledge and skills. Further, as global opportunities and industry demand shift, realignment, training and scaling of skilled resources may not be sufficiently rapid or successful. Any failure to attract, integrate, motivate and retain these employees could harm our business.
If we are unable to hire or deploy employees with the needed skillsets or at scale to meet customer demand or if we are unable to adequately equip our employees with the skills needed, our business could be adversely affected and we may not be able to meet key objectives to further our growth strategy.
Additionally, we are currently taking, and may take in the future, actions intended to reduce operating costs, including actions to rebalance our workforce and reduce the rate of new hires. From time to time, as a result of technological developments, changes in demand or an unanticipated decline in overall employee attrition, we can have more people than we need in certain skill sets, geographies or compensation levels. As part of our ongoing efforts to further streamline operations, we are undertaking workforce rebalancing actions designed to optimize and support the Company’s financial and operational efficiency. These actions, and any additional workforce actions taken in the future, could negatively impact our ability to attract, integrate, retain and motivate key employees, while also negatively impacting our corporate culture and employee engagement and retention.
Table of Contents
Due to our global presence, our business and operations could be adversely impacted by economic, geopolitical, public health and other conditions.
We are a globally integrated company doing business worldwide. Our results of operations have been and could in the future be affected by unfavorable, volatile or uncertain economic and geopolitical conditions and by macroeconomic changes, including recessions, inflation, currency fluctuations between the U.S. dollar and non-U.S. currencies, capital controls and adverse changes in trade relationships among those countries. Further, international trade disputes have created and may continue to create volatility and uncertainty, due to geopolitical developments, concerns over changes in global trade policies, the imposition of tariffs, reactions from other nations and U.S. government spending reductions. Tariffs, including retaliatory tariffs, international trade sanctions and other controls on imports or exports resulting from these disputes could affect our ability to move goods and services across borders, or could impose added costs to those activities. Measures taken to date by us to mitigate these impacts could be made less effective should trade sanctions or tariffs change. In addition, any widespread outbreak of an illness, pandemic or other local or global health issue, natural disasters including those that could be related to climate change impacts, or uncertain political climates, international hostilities, geopolitical conflict, other military conflicts or any terrorist activities, could adversely affect customer demand, our operations and supply chain, and our ability to source and deliver solutions to our customers. In the current macroeconomic environment, customers continue to balance short-term challenges and opportunities for transformation. While some customers have accelerated their digital transformation and increased their expenditures, the short-term priorities of other customers continue to be focused on operational stability, flexibility and cash preservation. Volatile and uncertain global macroeconomic conditions have in the past and could in the future cause our customers to reduce, postpone, cancel or defer discretionary spending in enterprise technology and infrastructure, making it more difficult for us to accurately forecast customer demand and have available the right resources to profitably address such customer demand. Further, macroeconomic or geopolitical conditions, including inflationary pressures, trade disputes and other challenges could result in financial difficulties for our customers, which have in the past and could in the future cause customers to delay payments to us, request modifications to their payment arrangements or default on their payment obligations to us.
Damage to our reputation and negative publicity adversely affects the Company and the price of our common stock.
Our reputation is susceptible to damage by events such as significant disputes with customers, internal control deficiencies, delivery failures, cybersecurity incidents, government investigations, including the SEC matter discussed below, or legal proceedings or actions of current or former customers, directors, employees, competitors, vendors, alliance partners or joint venture partners. Negative publicity, including adverse media coverage, unfavorable commentary or reports published by short sellers and public statements or actions by stockholders (such as in connection with efforts by private law firms to solicit clients for securities or derivative litigation), significantly impact the price and volatility of the Company’s common stock, regardless of the accuracy of such commentary, reports or actions. Negative publicity also impacts the terms under which some customers and suppliers are willing to continue to do business with the Company, affects the Company’s ability to attract and retain employees, and harms the Company’s relationships with investors, lenders and other stakeholders. In addition, negative publicity or unfavorable perceptions make it more difficult for the Company and its employees to operate, resulting in reduced morale, a potential increase in employee turnover and difficulty attracting talent. As a result, negative publicity adversely impacts the Company’s business, reputation and the price of its common stock.
If we are unable to accurately estimate the cost of services and the timeline for completion of contracts, the profitability of our contracts may be materially and adversely affected.
Our commercial contracts are typically awarded on a competitive or “sole-source” basis. Our bids are priced upon, among other items, the expected cost to provide the services. We are dependent on our internal forecasts and predictions about our projects and the marketplace, and, to generate an acceptable return on our investment in these contracts, we must be able to accurately estimate our costs to provide the services required by the contract and to complete the contracts in a timely manner. We face a number of risks when pricing our contracts, as many of our projects entail the coordination of operations and workforces in multiple locations and utilizing workforces with different skill sets and competencies across geographically diverse service locations. In addition, revenues from a small portion of our contracts are recognized using the cost-to-cost method, which requires estimates of total costs at
Table of Contents
completion, fees earned on the contract, or both. This estimation process, particularly due to the technical nature of the services being performed and the long-term nature of certain contracts, is complex and involves significant judgment. Adjustments to original estimates are often required as work progresses, experience is gained and additional information becomes known, even though the scope of the work required under the contract may not change. Moreover, as inflation can increase both our labor and non-labor input costs, the profitability of our contracts could be negatively impacted if we are unable to adjust our pricing or costs to take inflation into account. In addition, the accelerating pace at which new AI capabilities are being introduced, combined with increased regulatory uncertainty, specifically with regard to data sovereignty in Europe, has increased the complexity of certain long-term contracts. This increased complexity, along with extended timelines in customer decision-making, have lengthened sales cycles, which have in the past and may in the future adversely impact our results. Furthermore, if we fail to accurately estimate the effort, costs or time required to complete a contract, the profitability of our contracts may be materially and adversely affected. If we are not able to increase our margins as anticipated, we may not be able to meet key objectives to further our growth strategy.
Service delivery issues could adversely impact our business and operating results.
We have customer agreements in place that include certain service-level commitments. If we are unable to meet such commitments, we may be contractually obligated to pay penalties or provide these customers with service credits for a portion of the service fees paid by our customers. However, we cannot be assured that our customers will accept these penalties or credits in lieu of other legal remedies that may be available to them. Our failure to meet our commitments could also result in customer dissatisfaction or loss and have an adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, as we work on projects to advance the digital transformations of our customers’ businesses, the scale and complexity of these IT transformation projects present risks in management and execution. Our profitability depends on the ability of subcontractors, vendors and service providers to deliver their products and services in a timely manner, at the anticipated cost, and in accordance with the project requirements, as well as on our effective oversight of their performance. Certain customer work requires the use of unique and complex structures and alliances, some of which require us to assume responsibility for the performance of third parties whom we do not control. In addition, as the Company continues to identify opportunities to reduce its overall cost structure and increase operating efficiencies, including through site rationalization initiatives, if we do not effectively manage such efforts and our infrastructure capacity requirements, it could adversely impact our ability to effectively and efficiently deliver our services. Any of these factors could adversely affect our ability to perform and subject us to additional liabilities, which could have an adverse effect on our relationships with customers and on our results of operations.
Risks from acquisitions and dispositions include integration challenges, failure to achieve objectives, the assumption of liabilities and higher debt levels.
We have made, and may continue to make, acquisitions and dispositions in furtherance of our strategy. Such transactions can present significant challenges and risks, and there can be no assurances that we will identify or manage such transactions successfully or that strategic opportunities will be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. We have faced, and may continue to face, delays in completing or failure to complete transactions. Completing transactions is subject to delays, uncertainties and risks, including the risk that we may be unable to satisfy certain closing conditions, such as regulatory and financing conditions and the absence of material adverse changes to our business, and related litigation.
Post-closing, the related risks include our failure to achieve strategic objectives, our failure to achieve anticipated revenue improvements and cost savings, our failure to retain key strategic relationships of acquired companies, our failure to retain key personnel and our assumption of liabilities related to litigation or other legal proceedings involving the businesses in such transactions, as well as our failure to close planned transactions. Such transactions may require us to secure financing, and our indebtedness may limit the availability of financing to us or the favorability of the terms of available financing. If we do acquire other companies, we may face challenges in our ability to operate or integrate the acquired company and we may not realize all the economic benefit from those acquisitions, which could cause an impairment of goodwill or intangible assets. Realizing the desired results of a particular
Table of Contents
transaction may depend upon, among other things, competition, market trends, regulatory developments and challenges, additional costs or investments and the action of suppliers or other third parties.
We could be adversely impacted by our business with foreign, state and local government customers.
Our customers include numerous governmental entities within and outside the United States, including foreign governments and U.S. state and local entities. Some of our agreements with these customers are subject to periodic funding approval or other government budgetary issues. Recent funding reductions, delays or work stoppages have adversely impacted, and may continue to adversely impact, public sector demand for our services and can result in payment delays, payment reductions or contract terminations, any of which would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and/or cash flows. Also, government contracts are generally subject to extensive and evolving procurement regulations and tend to have additional requirements beyond commercial contracts and, for example, may contain provisions providing for higher liability limits for certain losses and non-performance. Also, compliance violations in one state or locality could result in suspension or debarment as a governmental contractor, could incur civil and criminal fines and penalties, or could impact our ability to compete for new contracts, which could negatively impact our competitive position, results of operations, financial results and reputation.
Intellectual property matters could adversely impact our business.
Our intellectual property rights may not prevent competitors from independently developing services similar to or duplicative of ours, nor can there be any assurance that the resources invested by us to protect our intellectual property will be sufficient or that our intellectual property portfolio will adequately deter misappropriation or improper use of our technology. Our ability to protect our intellectual property could also be impacted by changes to existing laws, legal principles and regulations governing intellectual property. Further, we rely on third-party intellectual property rights, open-source software and other third-party software in providing some of our services and solutions, and there can be no assurances that we will be able to obtain from third parties the licenses we need in the future or retain all of these intellectual property rights upon renewal, expiration or termination of such licenses. If we cannot obtain, renew or extend licenses to third-party intellectual property on commercially reasonable terms, or if we must obtain alternative or substitute technology or redesign services, our business may be adversely affected. Additionally, we cannot be sure that our services and solutions, or the solutions of others that we offer to our customers, do not infringe on the intellectual property rights of third parties (including competitors as well as non-practicing holders of intellectual property assets), and these third parties could claim that we, our customers or parties indemnified by us are infringing upon their intellectual property rights. As we expand our use of AI, there may be uncertainty regarding intellectual property ownership and license rights of AI and content generated by AI, and we may become subject to similar claims of infringement. In addition, we may be the target of aggressive and opportunistic enforcement of patents by third parties, including patent assertion entities and non-practicing entities. These claims, even if we believe they have no merit, could subject us to a temporary or permanent injunction or damages, harm our reputation, divert management attention and resources and cause us to incur substantial costs or prevent us from offering some services or solutions in the future. Even if we have an agreement providing for third parties to indemnify us for the foregoing claims, the indemnifying parties may be unwilling or unable to fulfill their contractual obligations.
The SEC matter and related events are ongoing, and the timing for their resolution and outcome cannot be predicted.
We continue to cooperate with the SEC Division of Enforcement’s investigation relating to the Company’s cash management practices, related disclosures, the efficacy of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting, and certain other matters. This matter is ongoing and the Company cannot currently predict its final outcome.
Amid these circumstances, the Company is subject to a number of risks, including:
declines in the price of the Company’s common stock or increased volatility;
the Company has been and may continue to be subject to legal and regulatory claims, lawsuits (including stockholder lawsuits), investigations, proceedings and other matters, which are costly and time-consuming to defend, and may result in substantial financial and legal liability;
the Company’s access to the capital and credit markets and the cost of such capital may be impacted, including as a result of actions taken by credit rating agencies;
Table of Contents
the Company experiences increased scrutiny from regulatory authorities, investors and other stakeholders, which could impact its business and result in additional investigations or regulatory actions;
deterioration of the Company’s relationships with customers, suppliers and other business partners can lead to a loss of business, less favorable contractual terms or difficulty attracting new customers and partners;
the availability of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance or other types of insurance may be costlier or more difficult to obtain in the future; and
the Company may be required to pay expenses, fines or damages, or agree to remedies, that could have an adverse impact on its business, results of operations, financial condition or liquidity.
Material weaknesses in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting have impacted the Company’s ability to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting.
As previously disclosed, the Company has identified material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting. See “Controls and Procedures” in Part II, Item 9A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. While the Company has developed a remediation plan, the material weaknesses cannot be considered remediated until the applicable remedial controls are implemented and operate for a sufficient period of time to allow management to conclude, through testing, that the remediation plan is implemented and the controls are operating effectively. The Company may be unable to remediate these material weaknesses in a timely manner, which could cause investors to lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of the Company’s financial reports and further impact the trading price of the Company’s common stock.
If we fail to establish and maintain effective internal controls, or if we identify additional material weaknesses, the accuracy of our financial statements may be adversely affected, and we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports and applicable stock exchange listing requirements. Deficiencies in our internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which can have a negative effect on the trading price of the Company’s common stock.
We may be required to record impairment charges to future earnings if our goodwill or long-lived assets become impaired.
We are required under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) to review our goodwill for impairment at least annually, and to review goodwill and long-lived assets when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. Some factors that may be considered events or changes in circumstances that would require our long-lived assets and/or goodwill to be reviewed for impairment include a sustained decline in stock price, a substantial decline in business performance or other entity-specific events such as changes in business management and strategy. We may be required to record non-cash impairment charges during any period in which we determine that our goodwill or long-lived assets are impaired, which could adversely affect our results of operations. As of March 31, 2026, our goodwill balance was $786 million, which represented 6% of total consolidated assets. See Note 11 – Intangible Assets Including Goodwill to our financial statements included elsewhere in this report for additional information about our goodwill impairment.
Risks Relating to Cybersecurity, Data Governance and Privacy
Cybersecurity, data governance and privacy considerations could adversely impact our business.
We maintain information, including confidential and proprietary information, in digital form regarding our business and the business of our customers, business partners, vendors, employees, contractors and other third parties. We also rely on third-party vendors to provide certain digital services in connection with our business and our delivery of services to customers. There are numerous and evolving risks relating to cybersecurity, data governance and privacy, including risks originating from intentional acts of criminal hackers, nation states and hacktivists; from intentional and unintentional acts of customers, business partners, vendors, employees, contractors, competitors and other third parties; and from errors, vulnerabilities and omissions in infrastructure, technology products, services and solutions that we use, as well as the risks associated with the number of customers, business partners, vendors, employees, contractors and other third parties working remotely. Computer hackers and others routinely attempt to exploit and attack the security of
Table of Contents
technology products, services, systems and networks using a wide variety of methods, including ransomware or other malicious software, and attempts to exploit vulnerabilities and flaws in hardware, software and infrastructure, technology products, services and solutions. Attacks also include social engineering to fraudulently induce customers, business partners, vendors, employees, contractors and other third parties to unwittingly disclose information, transfer funds or provide access to systems or data. We are at risk of security breaches not only of our own infrastructure, networks and services, but also those of customers, business partners, vendors, employees, contractors and other third parties.
Cyber threats and attacks are increasing in number and sophistication and continually evolving, particularly with the expanding availability of AI and generative and agentic AI tools and technologies, making it more challenging to defend against certain threats, attacks and vulnerabilities that can persist undetected over extended periods of time. Our technology infrastructure, products, services and solutions, including other third-party systems and technologies that we use to deliver our services or maintain on behalf of our customers, may be used in critical Company, customer or third-party operations, and involve the storage, processing and transmission of sensitive data, including proprietary or confidential data, regulated data, personal information and intellectual property of employees, customers and others. These products, services and solutions are also used by customers in heavily regulated industries, including those in the financial services, healthcare, critical infrastructure and government sectors. Cybersecurity attacks or other security incidents relating to our technology infrastructure, products, services and solutions or those of our vendors could result in, for example, one or more of the following: unauthorized access to, disclosure, modification, misuse, loss or destruction of Company, customer or other third-party data or systems; theft or import or export of sensitive, regulated or confidential data including personal information and intellectual property; the loss of access to critical data or systems through ransomware, destructive attacks or other means; and business delays, service or system disruptions or denials of service. In the event of such actions, we, our customers and other third parties could be exposed to liability (whether contractual or otherwise), litigation, and regulatory or other government inquiries, enforcement actions, fines or penalties, as well as the loss of existing or potential customers, negative publicity, damage to brand and reputation, damage to our competitive position and other financial loss.
The cost and operational consequences of responding to cybersecurity incidents and implementing remediation measures could be significant. In our industry, vulnerabilities in technology infrastructure, products, services and solutions are increasingly discovered, publicized and exploited, elevating the risk of attacks and the potential cost of response and remediation for us and our customers. The increasing number and sophistication of cyber threats, attacks and vulnerabilities, and the scale and complexity of our business and infrastructure, make it possible that certain threats, attacks or vulnerabilities will be undetected or unmitigated in time to prevent or minimize the impact on us or our customers. Cybersecurity risks to us and our customers also depend on factors such as the actions, practices and investments of customers, business partners, vendors, employees, contractors and other third parties. Cybersecurity attacks or other catastrophic events resulting in disruptions to or failures in power, information technology, communication systems or other critical infrastructure could result in interruptions or delays to Company, customer or other third-party operations or services, financial loss, injury or death to persons or property, potential liability, and damage to brand and reputation. Although, to date, we have not experienced a cybersecurity incident that has had a material adverse effect on us and we continuously take steps to mitigate cybersecurity risk across a range of functions, such measures cannot eliminate the risk entirely or provide absolute security. While we continue to monitor for, identify, investigate, respond to, remediate and develop plans to quickly recover from cybersecurity incidents, notwithstanding our efforts, we may experience a cybersecurity incident in the future that may have a material adverse impact on the Company.
As we are a global enterprise, the regulatory environment with regard to cybersecurity, data governance, data sovereignty and localization requirements, privacy, AI and other issues to which we are subject is increasingly complex and will continue to impact our business, including through increased risk, increased compliance costs, and expanded or otherwise altered compliance obligations. The enactment and expansion of cybersecurity, data governance (including data sovereignty), privacy, AI and other laws and regulations around the globe, including an increased focus on international data transfer mechanisms and supply chain management, the lack of harmonization of such laws and regulations, the increase in associated litigation and enforcement activity, the potential for damages, fines and penalties, and enacted or potential regulation of emerging and new technologies, such as AI and generative AI, will continue to result in increased compliance costs and increased risks. Any additional costs and penalties associated with increased
Table of Contents
compliance, enforcement and risk reduction could make certain offerings less profitable or increase the difficulty of bringing certain offerings to market.
Risks Relating to Legal Matters and Regulations
Our global operations expose us to numerous and sometimes conflicting legal and regulatory requirements, and violation of these regulations could harm our business.
We are subject to numerous, evolving, and sometimes conflicting, legal regimes on matters as diverse as anticorruption, import/export controls, content requirements, cybersecurity, data governance, data sovereignty and localization requirements, privacy, trade restrictions, tariffs, taxation, sanctions, immigration, internal and disclosure control obligations, securities regulation, anti-competition restrictions, anti-money-laundering, wage-and-hour standards, employment and labor relations, environmental, human rights, machine learning and AI. Further, we and the services we provide to customers may be impacted directly or indirectly by the development and enforcement of laws and regulations in the U.S. and globally that are specifically targeted at the technology and services sectors. As we expand our customer base and the scope of our offerings, both within the U.S. and globally, we may be further impacted by additional regulatory or other risks, including compliance with laws relating to corporate taxation, import, export and trade restrictions on technology and services. The global nature of our operations, including jurisdictions where legal systems may be less developed or understood by us, business practices and standards which deviate from international standards, and the diverse nature of our operations across a number of regulated industries, further increases the difficulty of compliance. Additionally, certain laws and regulations including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act 2010 could make us responsible for acts of our employees, subcontractors, vendors, agents, alliance or joint venture partners, the companies we may acquire and their employees, subcontractors, vendors and agents, and other third parties with which we associate if they take actions that violate applicable anti-corruption laws or regulations (whether or not we participated or knew about the actions leading to the violations).
Compliance with diverse legal requirements is costly and time-consuming and requires significant resources. New and changing laws can also adversely affect the Company’s business by limiting the Company’s ability to offer a service or feature to customers, imposing changes to the design of the Company’s products and services, impacting customer demand for the Company’s products and services, and requiring changes to the Company’s supply chain and business. New and changing laws and regulations can also create uncertainty about how such laws and regulations will be interpreted and applied. Violations of one or more of these regulations in the conduct of our business could result in significant fines and penalties, disgorgement of profits, enforcement actions or criminal sanctions against us and/or our employees, contractors or agents, prohibitions on doing business, unfavorable publicity and damage to our reputation. Additionally, regulatory investigations can be expensive, disruptive and damaging. Violations of these regulations in connection with the performance of our obligations to our customers also could result in liability for significant monetary damages and restrictions on our ability to effectively carry out our contractual obligations and thereby expose us to potential claims from our customers. Due to the varying degrees of development of the legal systems of the countries in which we operate, local laws may not be well developed or provide sufficiently clear guidance and may be insufficient to protect our rights.
Changes in laws and regulations could also mandate significant and costly changes to the way we implement our services or could impose additional taxes on our services. Changes in laws and regulations, including expanding controls on imports and exports and sanctions resulting from geopolitical developments, could impact our business, including imposing limits on where we can conduct operations, parties with whom we can conduct business, and the nature of work that can be performed. Such changes may result in limitations on existing or future business operations in certain markets, and violations of such laws and regulations could result in significant fines, penalties and enforcement actions.
Tax matters could impact our results of operations and financial condition.
We are subject to income taxes and withholding taxes in both the United States and numerous foreign jurisdictions. We calculate and provide for taxes in each tax jurisdiction in which we operate. Tax accounting often involves complex matters and requires our judgment to determine our worldwide provision for income taxes and other
Table of Contents
tax liabilities. Our provision for income taxes and cash tax liability in the future could be adversely affected by numerous factors including, but not limited to, changes in the geographic mix of income, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, and changes in tax laws, regulations, accounting principles or interpretations thereof, which could adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition in future periods. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the “OECD”) continues to issue guidelines as part of its Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) initiative and related international tax reform efforts. These initiatives reflect evolving views on the alignment of taxable income with economic activity and may differ in certain respects from long-standing international tax principles. Local country adoption and interpretation of these guidelines may increase tax uncertainty, result in inconsistent application among jurisdictions, and may adversely impact our effective tax rate, provision for income taxes and cash flows.
Our transfer pricing arrangements, which govern the pricing of intercompany transactions among our global operations, are subject to scrutiny by tax authorities and require the exercise of judgment to comply with applicable laws and OECD guidance. Changes in international tax standards or differing interpretations by tax authorities could result in challenges to our intercompany pricing and adjustments to the allocation of income or expenses among jurisdictions. Such adjustments could increase our tax liabilities, result in double taxation, and increase volatility in our effective tax rate and cash tax payments. The resolution of transfer pricing matters may be time-consuming, costly, and subject to uncertain outcomes.
In addition, we are subject to periodic examinations of our domestic and foreign tax returns by taxing authorities in the jurisdictions in which we do business. While we regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these examinations and record tax reserves as appropriate, there can be no assurance that the outcomes of these examinations will not have an adverse effect on the effective tax rate, provision for income taxes and cash flows.
We are subject to legal proceedings and investigatory risks.
We are and may become involved as a party and/or may be subject to a variety of claims, demands, suits, investigations, tax matters and other proceedings that arise from time to time. In addition, our former Parent may obtain, or may seek to obtain, indemnity from us for judgments against it relating to events that occurred prior to the Separation pursuant to agreements put in place in connection with the Separation.
The risks associated with known significant legal proceedings and regulatory investigations are described in more detail in Note 14 – Commitments and Contingencies in the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report and herein under the heading “ The SEC matter and related events are ongoing, and the timing for their resolution and outcome cannot be predicted. ” Additional legal proceedings, regulatory investigations and other contingencies, the outcome of which cannot be predicted with certainty, may arise from time to time.
We could incur costs for regulated environmental matters.
We are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations concerning the discharge of materials into the environment or otherwise related to environmental protection. We could incur costs, including cleanup costs, fines and civil or criminal sanctions, as well as third-party claims for property damage or personal injury, if we were to violate or become liable under environmental laws and regulations. In addition, if we were to violate or become liable under these laws and regulations our reputation could be harmed, which could have a negative impact on demand for our products and services.
Expectations relating to sustainability-related initiatives and considerations could expose us to potential liabilities, increased costs and reputational harm.
Over the past few years, certain government entities, regulators, lawmakers, investors, employees, customers and other stakeholders have focused on sustainability-related initiatives and considerations relating to businesses. This includes matters relating to climate change and carbon emissions, human rights, workforce management, responsible supply chain management, ethics, cybersecurity and privacy. At the same time, a number of other stakeholders, including government entities, regulators, lawmakers and investors have expressed contrary views and expectations, including the proposal, enactment or adoption of “anti-ESG” legislation, regulation, enforcement priorities and policies,
Table of Contents
which may result in additional scrutiny, reputational risk, lawsuits or market access restrictions. Conflicting regulations and requirements, and a lack of harmonization of legal and regulatory environments across the jurisdictions in which we operate, may create enhanced compliance risks and costs. We have established and publicly announced certain goals, commitments and initiatives that reflect our current plans and aspirations on corporate citizenship matters, which are based on available data and estimates. There are no guarantees that we will be able to achieve these goals, commitments or initiatives. The implementation of programs designed to achieve these goals or commitments and support these initiatives is subject to numerous risks, many of which are beyond our control, and in the future we may determine that further pursuit of them in light of changing circumstances is impracticable or inadvisable. Examples of such risks include but are not limited to: the availability and cost of resources and related technologies; the availability of suppliers and partners that can meet our standards; reliance on third-party performance and data; and our ability to manage geopolitical disruptions and natural disasters that could impact our employees, customers and businesses. Our failure, or perceived failure, to achieve any goals or commitments related to our corporate citizenship, maintain our practices, adhere to our prior public statements regarding our aspirations or meet evolving and varied stakeholder expectations and standards could adversely affect our reputation, our financial condition and our ability to attract and retain customers and talent, and expose us to increased scrutiny from the investment community, enforcement authorities and others.
Risks Relating to Financing and Capital Markets Activities
A lowering or withdrawal of the ratings, outlook or watch assigned to our debt securities by rating agencies may increase our future borrowing costs, reduce our access to capital and adversely impact our financial performance.
Our credit ratings are based upon information furnished by us or obtained by a rating agency from its own sources and are subject to revision, suspension or withdrawal by one or more rating agencies at any time. Rating agencies may place our ratings on negative outlook or credit watch, or take downgrade actions, due to a variety of factors including adverse changes in macroeconomic conditions, such as a global or regional recession, trade policy uncertainty (including tariff impositions or escalations), or broader credit market trends. In addition, rating agencies may review the ratings assigned to us due to developments that are beyond our control, including potential new standards requiring the agencies to reassess rating practices and methodologies. Rating agencies may further consider changes in our credit ratings based on changes in expectations about future profitability and cash flows even if short-term liquidity expectations are not negatively impacted.
Recently, we have experienced adverse actions or developments with respect to our credit ratings. Any rating, outlook or watch assigned could be lowered or withdrawn entirely by a rating agency if, in that rating agency’s judgment, current or future circumstances relating to the basis of the rating, outlook or watch, such as adverse changes to our business, so warrant. Any future lowering of our ratings, outlook or watch would make it more difficult or more expensive for us to refinance or obtain additional debt financing at competitive rates and impact the value and liquidity of our current debt. Moreover, a reduction in our ratings to below certain levels could potentially impact our contracts and relationships with certain customers or vendors and lead them to reduce or cease to do business with us, or impact our ability to attract new customers, which would adversely impact our financial performance.
The commercial and credit environment may adversely affect our access to capital.
Our ability to issue debt or enter into other financing arrangements on acceptable terms can be adversely affected if there is a material decline in the demand for our services or in the solvency of our customers or suppliers or if there are other significantly unfavorable changes in economic conditions. In addition, negative publicity or unfavorable perceptions and/or a lowering in our credit ratings, can harm our relationships with lenders and investors. Volatility in the world financial markets could increase borrowing costs or affect our ability to access the capital markets. These conditions and the other matters discussed in this Risk Factors section can adversely affect our credit ratings.
Our financial performance could be adversely impacted by changes in market liquidity conditions and by customer credit risk on receivables.
Our customer base includes many worldwide enterprises, from the world’s largest organizations and governments to smaller businesses, with a significant portion of our revenue coming from global customers across many
Table of Contents
sectors. As a result, our financial performance is exposed to a wide variety of industry sector dynamics worldwide, including sudden shifts in regional or global economic activity. Our earnings and cash flows, as well as our access to funding, could be negatively impacted by changes in market liquidity conditions. Additionally, if we become aware of information related to the creditworthiness of a major customer, or if future actual default rates on receivables in general differ from those currently anticipated, we may have to adjust our allowance for credit losses, which could affect our net income in the period the adjustments are made. Further, we enter into arrangements with financial institutions to sell certain of our trade receivables from customers without recourse. If we were to stop entering into these factoring arrangements or there are delays or failures in collecting trade receivables, our operating results, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely impacted. If any of these financial institutions experience financial difficulties or are otherwise unable to honor the terms of our factoring arrangements, we may experience a material impact to our cash flows.
Our results of operations and financial condition could be negatively impacted by our pension plans.
Adverse financial market conditions and volatility in the credit markets may have an unfavorable impact on the value of our pension trust assets and our future estimated pension liabilities. As a result, our financial results in any period could be negatively impacted. In addition, in a period of an extended financial market downturn, we could be required to provide incremental pension plan funding with resulting liquidity risk which could negatively impact our financial flexibility. Further, our results could be negatively impacted by premiums for mandatory pension insolvency insurance coverage outside the United States. Premium increases could be significant due to the level of insolvencies of unrelated companies in the country at issue.
We are exposed to currency risk that can adversely impact our revenue and business.
We derive a significant percentage of our revenues and costs in non-U.S. dollar currency environments, and our results are affected by changes in the relative values of non-U.S. currencies and the U.S. dollar, as well as sudden shifts in regional or global economic activity. Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates can have adverse effects on our revenues, income from operations and net income when items denominated in other currencies are translated or remeasured into U.S. dollars for presentation of our consolidated financial statements. In addition, we have labor and product supply agreements where the currency in which our costs are denominated differs from the currency of the customer contract. Our hedging strategies may not fully mitigate our currency risk or may prove disadvantageous. Additionally, large changes in currency exchange rates relative to our functional currencies can increase the costs of our services to customers relative to local competitors, thereby causing us to lose existing or potential customers to these local competitors.
Risks Relating to Our Common Stock and the Securities Market
Certain provisions in our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Amended and Restated By-Laws and Delaware law may discourage takeovers and limit the power of our stockholders.
Several provisions of our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, Amended and Restated By-Laws and Delaware law may discourage, delay or prevent a merger or acquisition. These include, among others, provisions that (i) provide for staggered terms for directors on our Board for a period following the Spin-off; (ii) establish advance notice requirements for stockholder nominations and proposals; (iii) provide for the removal of directors only for cause during the time the Board is classified; (iv) limit the ability of stockholders to call special meetings or act by written consent; and (v) provide the Board the right to issue shares of preferred stock without stockholder approval. In addition, we are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”), which could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control that some stockholders may favor.
These and other provisions of our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, Amended and Restated By-Laws and Delaware law may discourage, delay or prevent certain types of transactions involving an actual or a threatened acquisition or change in control, including unsolicited takeover attempts, even though the transaction may offer our stockholders the opportunity to sell their shares of our common stock at a price above the prevailing market price. Our Board believes these provisions will protect our stockholders from coercive or otherwise unfair takeover
Table of Contents
tactics by requiring potential acquirers to negotiate with the Board and by providing the Board with more time to assess any acquisition proposal. These provisions will apply even if the offer may be considered beneficial by some stockholders and could delay or prevent an acquisition that the Board determines is not in our and our stockholders’ best interests.
Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that certain courts in the State of Delaware or the federal district courts of the United States will be the sole and exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.
Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery located within the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of us, and to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee or stockholder to us or our stockholders, any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to the DGCL, our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or our Amended and Restated By-Laws or any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. However, if the Court of Chancery within the State of Delaware does not have jurisdiction, such action may be brought in another court in the State of Delaware, or if no court of the State of Delaware has jurisdiction, then in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. Unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act.
Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock will be deemed to have notice of and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, to have consented to the provisions of our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation described above. The choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders. However, the enforceability of similar forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings. If a court were to find the exclusive choice of forum provision contained in our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions.
