As an AI builder, Cognizant earns top-tier recognition for embedding AI and generative AI across the leaner life cycle to help enable personalized engagement and support data-driven academic operations

July 14, 2026 – Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) today announced it has been recognized as a Leader in Avasant’s Higher Education Digital Services 2026 RadarView™. Cognizant received the highest rating—five out of five—in both dimensions of Avasant’s assessment, practice maturity and future-proofing, placing it among the top-tier providers helping colleges and universities accelerate digital transformation.

Avasant evaluated 37 service providers and recognized 19 that brought the most value to the higher education market over the past 12 months. As an AI builder, Cognizant was distinguished for building full-stack AI solutions into the unique context of each institution—embedding AI and generative AI across the student life cycle, supported by a strong platform ecosystem that enables personalized engagement and data-driven academic operations.

The recognition reflects how Cognizant helps bridge institutional AI investment and tangible value. Rather than positioning AI as a set of standalone tools, Cognizant builds AI directly into the systems that run admissions, learning, faculty operations, student success and academic records. Platforms such as Neuro^® AI for predictive and personalized student intelligence and Agent Foundry for deploying autonomous digital agents anchor this approach, working alongside offerings including SkillSpring™ for AI-driven faculty learning, IntelliHire for academic recruitment automation, the Moment™ constituent engagement platform, and SCARF for academic records integration. Together, these capabilities deliver retention insights, content automation, intelligent decision-making and faculty workforce forecasting that integrate into institutional processes and work within existing CRM, ERP, SIS and cloud environments.

“Higher education leaders don’t need more AI experiments—they need AI that is built into how their institution actually runs and that is designed to deliver measurable value,” said Anurag Sinha, Senior Vice President and Communications, Media and Technology Business Unit Leader, Cognizant. “As an AI builder, that is exactly what we do. We build full-stack AI solutions tailored to the unique context of each campus, so institutions can personalize the student experience, modernize academic operations and act on data with confidence. Being named a Leader by Avasant affirms that our approach to building, not just advising, is helping universities turn AI investment into real outcomes for students, faculty and the institution.”

Avasant also noted Cognizant’s expanding partner ecosystem and investments, including alliances with Salesforce (Education Cloud, Agentforce), AWS and Microsoft, university collaborations such as New Mexico State University Global Campus and Brigham Young University, and the 2026 acquisition of 3Cloud to strengthen its Azure, data and AI capabilities.

“Higher education institutions face converging pressures from shrinking public funding, declining enrollment pipelines, and accountability mandates that tie funding to employment outcomes. Institutions are shifting toward sustainability-focused financial models, expanding into nondegree credentials and nontraditional learner segments, and embedding employability directly into curricula. At the same time, the rapid scaling of generative and agentic AI across the student life cycle has shifted institutional focus from experimentation to enterprise-grade governance, while integrated cloud ecosystems spanning student information and learning management systems, CRM and immersive learning technologies are becoming permanent institutional infrastructure. Cognizant supports higher education institutions across the student life cycle, covering student engagement, faculty enablement, curriculum management, administrative services and operations. Its offerings include Neuro^® AI for predictive student intelligence and workforce analytics, SkillSpring™ for personalized faculty learning with conversational AI coaching, IntelliHire for automated faculty hiring workflows and SCARF for academic records stabilization and reporting. It embeds generative AI across recruitment, learning and engagement workflows through Agent Foundry for deploying autonomous digital agents and integrates with Workday Student to support the student journey from admissions through graduation. Its partner ecosystem, spanning Salesforce Education Cloud, AWS and Microsoft, and bolstered by the 2026 3Cloud acquisition, delivers scalable, AI-enabled platforms for admissions, student success and academic operations. Cognizant’s continued investments in AI-enabled platforms, autonomous agent orchestration and cloud partnerships, combined with its end-to-end coverage across the higher education value chain, have strengthened its positioning as a Leader in Avasant’s Higher Education Digital Services 2026 RadarView,” said Parnika Gupta, Research Analyst, Avasant.

Cognizant’s higher education practice spans the full student life cycle—from recruitment and engagement through learning delivery, assessment, retention and academic operations—while integrating emerging focus areas such as mental health and wellness solutions. By building an institution’s unique context into AI-powered systems, Cognizant helps universities amplify human potential and stay ahead in a fast-changing environment.

Read the full report HERE.

Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) is an AI builder and technology services provider, building the bridge between AI investment and enterprise value by building full-stack AI solutions for our clients. Our deep industry, process and engineering expertise enables us to build an organization’s unique context into technology systems that amplify human potential, realize tangible returns and keep global enterprises ahead in a fast-changing world. See how at cognizant.ai or @cognizant.