Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S
| Photo Credit:
The recent layoff plans of Tata Consultancy Services have stirred debate over the future of middle-level management in an increasingly AI-driven IT landscape.
Addressing this, Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S emphasised that it is critical for managers to develop interdisciplinary skills while leveraging AI. He also said that managers will now have to handle smaller outcome-based agile teams that will comprise both humans and digital agents.
“To the next generation of people in this industry, I would say interdisciplinary skills are very important. Managers will need to develop expertise in new functional areas, knowing the operations of the [client] enterprise,” he said in an interaction with media persons.
“Right now our focus is that every associate in the company, from technologists to product managers and functional leaders use our code assisted platforms to amplify their potential and create more throughput.“
Fresher Hiring
While the IT industry has been plagued with a series of pink slips this year, Cognizant says it plans to increase its headcount. “We plan to onboard 15,000–20,000 freshers during the year, with around 7,500 added in Q2 alone, mainly to fulfil client demands and support the AI push.” Jatin Dalal, CFO, Cognizant, said.
Speaking about new hiring, CEO Ravi Kumar said that while deep programmers and data scientists will remain essential, companies want to bring in professionals with functional expertise, such as CAs or MBAs, to train them to work alongside digital agents.
Vibe Coding
Cognizant executives noted that it has been a first mover in incorporating next-generation technologies, and it continues to differentiate itself by promoting “Vibe Coding” among employees as part of its AI strategy. Vibe coding helps individuals from non-STEM fields build software using natural language.
The company is also currently running a GenAI hackathon as part of its vibe coding initiative, where more than 2,50,000 employees from verticals like HR, sales, engineering, and marketing will register to develop ideas using AI programming.
Published on July 31, 2025
