The Chairman Gave Himself the Job

The board did not go outside. It did not go downstairs. On January 16, 2026 it turned to the man at the head of its own table.

Conduent Incorporated announced that day that Harsha V. Agadi, chairman of its board, had been appointed chief executive officer, effective immediately. Cliff Skelton stepped down as president, chief executive and director after six years. Agadi gave up the chair the same day; Margarita Paláu-Hernández took it as independent chair.

He had joined the board only the year before, and had chaired its audit committee. That is not usually a springboard. It is usually a seat with a view of the damage.

The damage was on the tape three weeks later.

What The Year Had Done

For 2025, Conduent reported revenue of $3.042 billion, down 9.4% from $3.356 billion. A prior-year net income of $426 million had become a net loss of $170 million. Adjusted free cash flow was negative $130 million. Cash at year end stood at $243 million against roughly 53,000 associates and a business spanning commercial, government and transportation clients.

Agadi's first quarterly statement as chief executive did not oversell it: "Q4 and full-year 2025 reflected mixed execution for Conduent."

Then he made a claim about himself rather than the company: "Having led several successful transformations, I know sustainable turnarounds are built on focus, consistency, and a commitment to serving clients exceptionally well."

He Had Done This Before

The claim is checkable. Conduent's own announcement records more than 35 years of executive leadership and six chief executive roles over 25 years. He is chairman of GHS Holdings and non-executive chairman of Flotek Industries. He has sat on the boards of Belmond Ltd. and Crawford & Company, the claims-handling firm, where he chaired multiple committees before running it. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Mumbai and an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.

On taking the Conduent job he said the conventional thing - "I am honored to take on this role and grateful for the trust of my fellow Board members." The unconventional part was structural. He was the director who had been overseeing the accounts, now responsible for producing them.

The First Quarter Looked Right

Reported on May 11, 2026, the first quarter read like a plan working.

Revenue of $723 million, down 3.7%. Pre-tax loss of $27 million, an improvement of $29 million year over year. Adjusted EBITDA of $49 million, up $12 million. Margin of 6.8%, up 190 basis points. Cash flow from operating activities improved by $50 million. New business signings of $114 million in annual contract value.

He was blunt about the mechanism, and about who owned it: "In April, I streamlined leadership of our Commercial organization to sharpen accountability and accelerate decision-making". Client relationships and sales execution now reported to him.

He also put a date on the destination: "Looking ahead to 2027, we see a clear path to positive adjusted free cash flow and continued improvement in adjusted EBITDA."

Ninety-one days later the shape of the company changed underneath the comparison.

The Second Quarter Did Not

On August 10, 2026, Conduent reported revenue of $531 million from continuing operations, down 11.9% against $603 million a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA fell to $16 million from $23 million. The margin came in at 3.0%, against 3.8%. The GAAP net loss widened to $116 million from $40 million. Adjusted diluted earnings per share were negative $0.18.

Read the two quarters side by side and the turnaround appears to have collapsed. That reading is wrong, and the release says why: the second-quarter figures are stated on continuing operations after the Transit and Tolling businesses moved into discontinued operations. The $723 million and the $531 million are not the same company. Only the year-over-year lines mean anything, and those still went the wrong way.

Cash flow was the exception. Operating activities produced $7 million against negative $15 million a year earlier. Adjusted free cash flow improved to negative $8 million from negative $30 million.

What He Sold To Pay

The reason the two quarters are incomparable is also the quarter's best number.

"The announced sales of our Transit and Tolling businesses are expected to generate approximately $234 million in gross proceeds, plus a 7% equity interest in the Tolling buyer, exceeding the commitment we made in the first quarter to generate at least $200 million through portfolio actions."

He had set a floor of $200 million in May and cleared it by $34 million in August. The majority of the proceeds, he said, would go to debt. Alongside it runs an annualized cost-savings program of roughly $100 million.

This is the trade a turnaround chief executive makes when the operating line will not move fast enough: sell assets, retire debt, buy time. Transit and tolling are the businesses Conduent's transportation clients knew it for. They are now somebody else's.

What 2027 Has To Show

Agadi's own account of the second quarter concedes the gap between the actions and the arithmetic: "While our second-quarter financial results do not yet reflect the full impact of the actions underway, we are building a simpler, more focused and higher-performing Conduent."

Every turnaround statement contains a version of that sentence. What distinguishes this one is the date attached to it. He committed in May to positive adjusted free cash flow in 2027, and he made that commitment as an executive with no predecessor to blame and no chairman above him who did not used to be him.

The board that appointed him is chaired by someone he handed the gavel to. The audit committee he once led now reviews his numbers. He has until the end of 2027 to produce the cash flow he promised.

The seat he took is the one he was supposed to be watching.