Cognizant CEO Says AI Now Writes 20% of Code, Boosts Developer Productivity by 34%

Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S revealed during a Q&A session with the Economic Times that 20% of the company’s code is written with the help of AI. His statement came in response to a question regarding the impact of geopolitical uncertainties and potential tariffs on IT services spending.

Responding to the question Kumar said that AI is creating new addressable spending areas. He said that Engineering research and development budgets are allocated separately from traditional cost budgets. “We’re in an age of hyper-productivity, with AI contributing to significant code development,” Kumar added.

The CEO also highlighted how AI-assisted code writing improved the productivity of their developers. Sharing the improvement metrics, the productivity of the bottom quartile of their developers has improved by 34%. Whereas, the top 50% of their developers have shown 17% improved productivity. He termed the technology as pervasive and constantly evolving.

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Three-Vector AI Opportunity

While responding to the question on Kumar’s two years at Cognizant, the CEO said that the company has transitioned from the stabilisation phase to now showing organic and sequential growth. He noted that the company under his leadership is focusing on three-vector AI opportunities: AI-assisted code development, AI integration in enterprise and unlocking new service pools through AI agents.

Kumar is planning to double down on AI-assisted code development and wants the 20% figure to increase. His second area of focus is AI integration and customisation, where the company plans to integrate AI into businesses solving niche problems including data and cloud modernisation. He further revealed that they have 1,200 projects running on AI integration.

Cognizant is also planning to build AI agents catering to different sectors. Kumar said that the company aims to build agents for emerging sectors such as digital nurse and AI-driven drug development.

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Cognizant Trains 4 Lakh People

During the Nasscom Technology and Leadership Forum 2025, Kumar told Moneycontrol that as part of its initiative to equip one million people with AI skills by 2026, Cognizant has already trained 4 lakh individuals.

He highlighted Cognizant's Synapse programme, designed to upskill employees in advanced technologies such as generative AI. The organisation is working with governments, universities, and business partners to train over a million people.

Around 30,000 Cognizant employees have already received AI training, with an additional 40,000 currently undergoing training. By the end of 2024, the company had approximately 336,800 employees.

With the tech sector facing disruption, most digital organisations are prioritising AI-skilled workers, particularly in established technology firms.