COGNIZANT AS AN AI BUILDER
AI builder: From generic AI to AI that's built for your business
AI doesn't work "out of the box"
At the AI Impact Summit in India, Cognizant CTO Babak Hodjat spoke with Fortune India about a market misperception about enterprise AI. Scaling AI in the enterprise requires engineering prowess, custom mapping, human intentionality and rigorous governance to move beyond the experimental phase.
The AI builder advantage
Cognizant set the standard for the AI builder company, being first to market with this concept—moving beyond integration to building the context-infused platforms, agentic journeys, tools and models that make AI’s potential real for the enterprise.
Enterprises are navigating unprecedented complexity
- Reinvent business models with human and digital labor
- Refactor software development
- Embrace high risk, probabilistic agentic cycles
- Shift towards AI-native architectures that enable fluid and adaptable business models
Our AI builder approach helps you realize value from AI, faster and at scale.
The AI builder benefits we deliver to help clients scale AI at speed
Research-driven innovation
Our AI Lab fuels breakthroughs that translate into intelligent solutions, platforms and real-world impact. We embed award-winning, patented approaches directly into the systems we build—providing unique value to clients.
Defining the AI builder category
In the 1990s, Cognizant was not a systems integrator. We built systems and drove outcomes that fueled growth for our clients. The enterprise software era migrated value to the software companies who owned the product, and we became integrators.
Yet new AI capabilities changed the equation again. Deterministic software—rule-based, repeatable, suited for off-the-shelf applications—has given way to Software 2.0: probabilistic, contextual and naturally bespoke. In the AI world, systems matter more than ever, requiring governance, contextual intelligence and auditability to deliver enterprise-grade results our clients and their customers can trust.
Core elements that strengthen our AI builder approach
Examples: Industry AI stacks supporting agentic journeys
Key pain points
KYC delays, compliance burden, fraud loss, manual regulatory reporting
Process reimagination and AI builder stack
- KYC and compliance agents
- Neuro AI for fraud detection
- Context engineered regulatory reasoning
- Built in audit trails with human in the loop oversight
Outcomes
- 50% faster KYC turnaround
- First time approval rates increased from 20% to 80%
Key pain points
Diagnostic support burden, grievance delays, admin overhead, patient access gaps
Process reimagination and AI builder stack
- Multimodal agents for diagnostic assist
- Contact center agentification (donor, patient)
- Medical billing and claims AI agents
- Grievance resolution automation
Outcomes
- 90%+ triage accuracy
- 75% talent redeployed
- Near-zero abandonment
Key pain points
Order management latency, inventory inaccuracy, fulfillment speed, low agent capacity
Process reimagination and AI builder stack
- Smart picker routing with AI agents
- Order management via Agentforce
- Digital sales agents (inbound and outbound)
- Context-aware product substitution with AI
Outcomes
- 20–45% faster fulfillment
- 5 days → 90 sec order response
Did you know? Why do transformative technologies diffuse slowly before they surge?
Transformative technologies make an impact only when deeply embedded into how enterprises operate.
The future belongs to the AI built enterprise
We've built our reputation by sensing key technology shifts early and moving quickly to develop products and services that helped our clients transform and remain relevant. As an AI builder, we deliver the responsive innovation enterprises require to stay ahead.