Cognizant is putting 18,000 engineers behind Google Gemini: What they will build and why

Cognizant is dedicating more than 18,000 employees to building artificial intelligence (AI) agents for clients using Google's Gemini, as the IT services company seeks to help businesses move AI projects from pilot stages into everyday operations.

The new Gemini Frontier Capability Group, formed with Google Cloud, will focus on four areas: modernising legacy software, improving developer tools, automating business processes and strengthening cyber defence, according to a report by The Next Web published on 19 October.

The two companies described the initiative as a "substantial joint investment" but did not disclose its financial terms. The group builds on a Gemini practice Cognizant established in April.

"Establishing our dedicated Gemini Frontier Capability Group lets our best frontier engineering talent focus entirely on getting frontier AI into production for clients," Cognizant chief executive Ravi Kumar S said.

Moving AI from pilots to production

The initiative comes as companies look to deploy AI agents beyond experimental projects and integrate them into business operations. Cognizant and Google Cloud intend to help clients apply the technology to software development, routine business processes and cybersecurity.

Cognizant has also been expanding its employees' familiarity with Google's AI tools. More than 55,000 employees have completed a Gemini training workshop with Google Cloud, which the company described as the largest of its kind so far.

The company is rolling out Gemini to 100,000 of its own employees in 2026 and plans to extend access to 200,000 employees. Cognizant had approximately 357,000 employees at the end of June.

The company has cited early productivity gains from the technology. It said it helped an unnamed retail client increase developer productivity by 40% and reduce costs by 35% using Gemini. These figures have not been independently verified.

In April, Google established a $750 million partner fund to help consulting firms build AI agents on Google Cloud. In September, Google and Accenture formed a unit of up to 1,000 engineers to deploy Gemini inside client companies.

Cognizant is also pursuing partnerships beyond Google. It was among the first companies to join OpenAI's Codex partner programme in April.

Rival Tata Consultancy Services is making a similar push, planning to retrain up to 8,900 employees as AI deployment engineers.