Cognizant is expanding its OpenAI partnership by launching a group of more than 25,000 professionals to help enterprise customers deploy ChatGPT, Codex and other AI tools across their operations.
Cognizant’s OpenAI Frontier Capability Group will focus on three areas: software development, modernization of legacy IT systems and AI-powered customer operations. The initiative supports Cognizant’s strategy of building a large workforce capable of deploying advanced AI models in complex enterprise environments.
The move also follows Cognizant’s recent commitment of 18,000 employees to support Google’s Gemini technology. By working with competing AI providers, Cognizant is positioning itself to serve enterprise customers regardless of which AI platform they select.
For large enterprises, the challenge is often less about gaining access to AI models than integrating them with existing applications and business processes. These deployments require highly specialized engineering skills, particularly when AI systems must operate alongside legacy enterprise systems. Cognizant touts its workforce training for this role. More than 21,000 employees have earned over 40,000 OpenAI training badges, demonstrating completion of courses focused on OpenAI technologies.
The company is also developing a broader pool of AI specialists through its Frontier workforce initiative. In July, Cognizant outlined plans to develop 5,000 Frontier Certified Engineers and 10,000 Frontier Business Operators, with its initial group scheduled to complete assessments by the fourth quarter of 2026.
Assisting Developers, Mainframe Modernization
A major component of the new group will be deploying Codex, OpenAI’s software engineering tool, to assist developers with coding and application delivery. The goal is to help enterprises speed up software development while reducing the manual work needed to maintain large software portfolios.
Another priority is updating aging mainframe applications. Cognizant plans to use its Application Modernizer platform, powered by OpenAI models, to analyze older code and help convert applications for cloud platforms. The company has previously worked on mainframe modernization projects for more than 500 customers. Cognizant says engineers will continue reviewing critical decisions made during AI-assisted modernization projects.
The third focus is customer-facing AI. Cognizant plans to develop AI agents for sales, technical support and customer service, building on its own experience using OpenAI technology to identify business opportunities and support sales teams. The company cited a deployment at a global biopharmaceutical firm where it helped develop an enterprise AI assistant supporting document creation, information retrieval and approvals. According to Cognizant, the system has processed more than 5 million conversations and reduced content creation time by 60%.
Cognizant’s OpenAI relationship extends beyond the new workforce initiative. The company is an Advanced Partner in the OpenAI Partner Network and has conducted Codex development events in India and the Americas involving more than 12,000 participants.
