Cognizant Launches Talent Accelerator Program With 489 Newly Hired B-School Graduates
Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH), a leading AI Builder and technology services provider, today launched its Talent Accelerator program with 489 newly hired graduates from 58 business schools (B-schools) across 37 cities in India, including premier institutes such as IIM Bangalore; IIM Kozhikode; IIM Lucknow; ISB, Hyderabad; SPJIMR, Mumbai; FMS, University of Delhi; and XLRI – Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur, among others.
The program is a two-week immersive onboarding held simultaneously across Cognizant's facilities in Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune, designed to help new hires learn about the company and its values. It also combines functional, sales and marketing training, alongside direct interaction with Cognizant's business and leadership teams.
“As an AI Builder, Cognizant believes cognitive diversity is essential to creating value for both clients and associates,” said Rajesh Varrier, President – Global Operations and Chairman & Managing Director, Cognizant India. “By bringing together interdisciplinary talent from across the country from day one, the Talent Accelerator program fosters a culture of collaboration and aims to equip new associates to bridge the gap between AI capabilities and real-world business outcomes.”
Cognizant is broadening its hiring of non-STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) talent to build the interdisciplinary skills the AI era demands, with the newly hired B-school graduates reflecting this approach. More than 37% of the cohort come from non-STEM backgrounds, spanning liberal arts disciplines such as sociology and psychology, vocational fields like office management and secretarial practice, and design-focused areas such as industrial design. Over 42% of the cohort are women, in line with Cognizant's commitment to inclusion.
The company recently committed to scaling its Frontier-certified workforce to 5,000 Frontier Certified Engineers and 10,000 Frontier Business Operators. This workforce represents the human and operational infrastructure enterprises need to help convert AI capability into measurable business results.
