Cognizant has formed an OpenAI Frontier Capability Group, committing more than 25,000 professionals to delivering OpenAI products, including Codex and ChatGPT, for enterprise clients. Cognizant announced the group on October 30, saying it will help businesses apply OpenAI models to how they write software, serve customers and run daily operations.
Cognizant's pitch is that model access is no longer the constraint. The company argues that the main barrier for many enterprises is a shortage of people who can build with frontier models, and it is positioning a dedicated workforce to fill that gap.
“We are committing more than 25,000 of our people to bring that change inside our clients' businesses.”— Ravi Kumar S, CEO of Cognizant
The training numbers are already in place. More than 21,000 Cognizant associates have earned over 40,000 OpenAI badges for completing learning tracks on OpenAI technologies. Cognizant's workforce model is also producing Frontier Certified Engineers and Frontier Business Operators, credentials issued directly by frontier-model companies.
Key facts
- 01Cognizant formed an OpenAI Frontier Capability Group with more than 25,000 professionals on October 30, 2026.
- 02More than 21,000 Cognizant associates have earned 40,000+ OpenAI badges for completing training tracks.
- 03Initial focus: Codex software engineering, mainframe modernization and agentic customer operations.
- 04A biopharma assistant Cognizant built on OpenAI models has handled 5M+ conversations and cut content time 60%.
The group's first focus areas are AI-native software engineering with Codex, application modernization and agentic customer operations across sales, service and support. For modernization, Cognizant is using its Application Modernizer, powered by OpenAI models, to move from reverse engineering legacy mainframe code to generating cloud-native code. The company says it has modernized mainframe systems for more than 500 clients.
Cognizant pointed to one deployment as a template. For a global biopharmaceutical company, it co-engineered an OpenAI-powered enterprise assistant that combines search, content creation, translation and approvals. The assistant has handled more than 5 million conversations and cut content creation time by 60%, according to Cognizant.
“Cognizant is helping more enterprises turn AI into meaningful business impact.”— Dali Rajic, Chief Revenue Officer at OpenAI
Cognizant is also running OpenAI internally first. Its sales and customer success teams use a tool built on OpenAI models to identify and pursue opportunities, and CEO Ravi Kumar S said OpenAI is beginning to reshape how the company sells.
Cognizant's Codex hackathons in India and the Americas drew more than 12,000 participants.
Cognizant is one of a select group of Advanced partners in the OpenAI Partner Network. The announcement did not disclose financial terms or contract values tied to the new group.
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