India a crucial hub in AI’s agentic future, says Cognizant leadership

India is set to play a central role in the next phase of artificial intelligence, as Cognizant places a $1 billion bet on what it sees as the defining shift in AI’s evolution—the rise of agentic systems. The company’s senior leadership believes that India’s deep talent pool, established services ecosystem, and growing AI specialisation position it at the heart of global adoption.Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Surya Gummadi, President of Americas at Cognizant, and Babak Hodjat, Chief Technology Officer for AI, outlined how the company is building its strategy around AI agents—self-directed systems that work across domains, collaborate with other agents, and are increasingly tailored for specific business roles.“The billion-dollar bet we made is paying off really well for us,” said Gummadi, citing client enthusiasm and operational returns. The investment spans three areas: talent development, infrastructure via AI Labs, and tailored AI-led solutions for clients.Hodjat, credited with developing the natural language technology used in Siri, said agent-based systems are making a return, but in a far more capable form. “We’ve come back to agents and multi-agentic systems,” he explained. Unlike the past, today’s AI can handle natural language and interact across domains, but still requires human expertise to configure and direct it effectively.Cognizant executives argue that this is not a crisis moment for Indian IT services firms, but rather a structural shift. “The jobs might morph into something different, but I don’t think there will be an existential crisis,” Gummadi said. He added that demand for configuring, managing, and orchestrating agents will create a new layer of work across tech services.Hodjat agreed, saying, “There’s no one-size-fits-all AI system.” He added that the shift to agentic AI is increasing demand for customised solutions, making the current phase one of the most promising for services firms.Cognizant’s AI Labs are already building what it calls a “nucleus agentic system,” which clients can expand gradually across departments. “We allow various teams to bring in agents—even third-party ones—but put them through validation and governance,” Hodjat said. Use cases range from code migration to HR and RFP workflows.Gummadi pointed to recent deployments for companies like Gilead and Telstra, where agent-led workflows are being used across internal systems and product development. “Use cases have expanded significantly in the last 6–8 months,” he said, noting activity in banking, logistics, and healthcare despite regulatory constraints.As clients move from proof-of-concept projects to scaled implementation, questions around return on investment are becoming more central. “Many clients initially approached it in a siloed fashion,” Gummadi said. “But now they’re taking a holistic look at the value chain.” That shift, he said, is making RoI easier to demonstrate.This move towards enterprise-wide applications is also changing the nature of large outsourcing contracts. “The spend is pivoting toward AI,” Gummadi said, citing a PwC study that found 88% of senior executives plan to increase AI budgets. He said Cognizant’s model is to use AI to unlock value, which then funds further transformation. “By definition, that becomes a large deal,” he said.Hodjat said the adoption of agentic systems also has a secondary benefit—breaking down organisational silos. “One edtech client had multiple acquisitions and no integration. Agents helped bridge that instantly,” he explained.Cognizant is betting that this framework—combining cost optimisation, transformation, and AI-led growth—will define future deals. “We’ve proven it in two recent cases and have a strong pipeline,” Gummadi said. “We believe this will prompt more large deals in the market.”As agentic AI moves from lab to boardroom, India’s IT talent is expected to play a decisive role in helping enterprises adapt to this model—not just in building AI systems, but in tailoring, orchestrating, and scaling them across global operations.

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