We feel recognition reflects Cognizant's AI-native governance, proprietary research assets, and scaled delivery in helping clients move from AI pilots to production-grade software

October 14, 2026 — Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) today announced it has been positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the Leaders quadrant of the 2026 Magic Quadrant for Custom Software Development Services report for the second consecutive year. [¹] We believe this recognition reflects Cognizant's ability to combine AI-native governance, proprietary research assets, and scaled delivery to help clients move from experimenting with AI to building production-grade, business-critical software.

"We believe being named a Leader in this Magic Quadrant is a reflection of the scale and rigor our teams bring to custom software development every day," said Rajesh Varrier, President of Global Operations, Cognizant. "Our clients don't just need AI pilots — they need production-grade systems they can trust, govern, and that deliver value. That's the standard we hold ourselves to across every engagement."

Built for Trust at Scale

Cognizant has achieved ISO 42001 certification for its AI management systems, giving clients added assurance in regulated environments. This is backed by a proprietary research engine: Supported by over 50 researchers and 90+ peer-reviewed publications, Cognizant's AI Labs hold more than 120 issued and pending patents in business AI. These innovations give clients access to patented model architectures that extend beyond conventional market offerings.

Innovation Built With, Not Just For, Clients

Bluebolt is Cognizant’s grassroots innovation movement. It builds on the company’s decade-long focus on innovation. The program gives employees at any level, anywhere, a framework to contribute to innovation from ideation through implementation. To date, Cognizant has evaluated more than 500,000 employee-generated ideas, advancing the most promising through co-funded innovation programs with strategic clients to develop custom tools tailored to their specific needs.

Proof at Scale

Recent client outcomes illustrate this scale in practice:

• Legacy modernization: Cognizant's automated EGL-to-COBOL migration factory uses 11 specialized AI agents to compress a 15-year mainframe modernization timeline into four years — including a re-architecture of 50% of one regional banking client's mainframe applications, reducing transaction cycle times for the client.
• AI-accelerated delivery: For a state-backed insurance provider, Cognizant built a unified customer portal using AI-infused discovery tools and code-assist platforms that generated 30% of the project's code.
• Grounded, governed AI agents: Cognizant's proprietary Flowsource™ platform now powers 25% of all Custom Software Development engagements, embedding generative and agentic AI across the SDLC. Its BASIS framework and ContextFabric™ architecture — supported by more than 1,000 dedicated context engineers — ground probabilistic AI agents in each client's specific business context and applicable regulatory considerations.

A complimentary copy of the report can be accessed HERE.

[1] Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Custom Software Development Services, Jaideep Thyagarajan, Ryan McKinney, Nathan Davie, 5 October 2026

Gartner and Magic Quadrant are trademarks of Gartner, Inc., and/or its affiliates.

Gartner does not endorse any company, vendor, product or service depicted in its publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's business and technology insights organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this publication, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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.