Market View
Navigating the AI transformation journey: How global service providers are reimagining value creation
Sponsored by:
Produced by:
Mukta Agarwal
Client Partner for Government & Regulatory, Banking & Financial Services at Cognizant
About Mukta Agarwal
Mukta Agarwal is Client Partner for Government & Regulatory, Banking & Financial Services at Cognizant, where she oversees strategic client relationships with a focus on UK quasi-government clients including major financial regulators and the Central Bank. With a background in economics and English literature, Mukta manages a revenue portfolio exceeding £50 million and drives strategic growth initiatives. She has established herself as a trusted adviser in implementing industry best practices while securing major deals through her extensive experience in digital transformation and client engagement.
How do you see the service provider landscape evolving as AI capabilities mature?
AI has been in the market for a long time, but awareness has really picked up pace during the last year. I believe as AI matures, service providers will increasingly shift towards automation-driven solutions. We're no longer just traditional service providers offering bodies and capabilities – instead, we're delivering smarter, more predictive, and cost-efficient solutions, which is exactly what our clients are seeking.
At Cognizant, we've seen an increased focus on AI-powered decision making with our new CEO investing heavily in AI-driven services. Hyper-personalisation has become particularly important.
When I talk about hyper-personalisation, I mean implementing AI in smaller, focused pieces rather than trying to boil the ocean. We target specific areas where we can deliver exactly what the client wants. For example, if a client wants to increase learning adoption, we look at how AI can help with that. If they want more data-driven support services, we personalise that using their existing tool sets rather than introducing new technologies.
We're no longer just traditional service providers offering bodies and capabilities – instead, we're delivering smarter, more predictive, and cost-efficient solutions, which is exactly what our clients are seeking.
What changes are you seeing in how clients perceive and adopt AI transformation?
There's enough interest and appetite for AI in the market. However, the receptiveness is still not as great as we'd like. Clients are eager to get results quicker and faster. They don't want to wait too long, and sometimes they're trying to boil the ocean with their AI ambitions.
What we're seeing is that clients now want to understand the impact each technology is making on their service delivery for end consumers, rather than just focusing on the cost impact. They want to see an overall impact. Of course, they want faster services, more efficient services, and they're talking about better productivity. But they're also quite cautious about taking bigger strides in this direction.
What they want is to start small, take a baby step, see how it works, and then move forward. We've seen plenty of receptiveness – they're very welcoming in terms of adopting these technologies from us and exploring possibilities. But they're very cautious at the same time, particularly in banking and financial services, which is traditionally a very cautious sector.
Looking ahead, I believe we need to take a measured approach and not be overly aggressive with clients. Each organisation is at a different stage in their journey – some are ready for significant change, while others resist rapid transformation.
It's a delicate path, and treading carefully, I would recommend continuing with automations and improvements that deliver tangible benefits quickly. Alongside these, gradually introduce AI elements – small, simple, and focused – demonstrating clear value at each step. It will take a bit of time for them to realise and start budgeting for large-scale AI projects. For that, I think we need another year.
How are you identifying where AI can add the most value in service delivery?
As service providers, we look for efficiency opportunities across people, processes, and technology. Our clients increasingly demand adaptable workforces ready for future thinking, while wanting us to scrutinise data more deeply to uncover insights that benefit them.
We're developing accelerators and platforms that integrate the entire software development lifecycle, weaving AI throughout to ensure seamless end-to-end management. Our solutions aim to impact productivity and user experience while reducing manual interventions.
Let me share some practical examples. We've created a digital scrum master prototype that manages processes automatically, working with tools like Jira and Azure DevOps to handle follow-ups and create tickets.
For the FCA and Bank of England, we're developing AI agents to read through government policies and papers, with error detection mechanisms and "AI above AI" to implement verification principles. For their authorisation process, we're building AI models to verify document authenticity, checking passports and determining whether submitted documents are genuine.
Context is everything with AI. We're implementing AI in smaller, more focused pieces rather than trying to boil the ocean. We target specific areas where we can deliver exactly what the client wants.
For us, transformation has always meant automating processes that didn't require human intervention. With AI, we're asking: how can we make it more efficient? How can we make it smarter, more predictable?
What transformations has Cognizant made internally to support AI implementation?
AI adoption is relatively recent at Cognizant, but we've always focused on efficiency and transformation at various scales. Traditionally, transformation meant automating processes that didn't require human intervention. Now, with AI, we're asking how to make these processes smarter and more predictable.
We leverage our partner network extensively. In areas where we cannot build solutions, we buy or collaborate with partners, integrating their capabilities into our client offerings. We're developing accelerators that adapt to clients' tech stacks rather than selling licensed products.
Key innovations include Neuro, which handles observability and touchless support management, and Flow Source, which provides a single view of the entire software development lifecycle. In learning, our Moment initiative brings digital learning experiences to users through AI.
We've invested in creating an AI-ready workforce through targeted hiring and training programmes. AI is becoming part of our DNA, though we're still evolving – I wouldn't claim we're fully mature in this space yet.
What challenges do you see in measuring the impact of AI implementation?
Measurement approaches for AI impact are still evolving. Currently, we're primarily tracking idea conversion rates – how many AI proposals we successfully implement with clients. The challenge is that returns on AI aren't immediate; they materialise over time, which conflicts with clients seeking quick ROI.
Clients wanting immediate returns typically focus on smaller initiatives like automating specific functions or implementing CI/CD. For them, success might simply mean reducing headcount by a small number.
Realistically, we commit to 20-30% improvement through our accelerators and process refinements. Even this varies significantly based on client maturity. The investments often have a longer horizon because organisational readiness must reach a certain threshold before sophisticated AI tools can deliver meaningful benefits.
About Cognizant
Cognizant is a leading global professional services company that transforms clients' business, operating, and technology models for the digital era. Listed among the Fortune 200 companies, Cognizant partners with organisations across industries to help them innovate and modernise their systems and processes. The company delivers services spanning digital transformation, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, software development, and business consulting, with a significant presence across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.
About Enate
Enate is the leading SaaS solution for business services. Enate orchestrates work from start to finish, giving clients the visibility and control needed to deliver better services. From email management and data analysis to intelligent document processing, Enate also offers a host of touch-button AI features designed to slash the time spent on manual work. Trusted by global service teams, Enate ensures smooth, consistent operations that help clients perform at their best.