In a bid to revolutionise enterprise operations and spur industry-wide innovation, Cognizant and Microsoft have announced a global partnership. The collaboration, which involves a $1 billion investment in generative AI technologies, aims to expand the adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot and contribute to global GDP growth forecasts.

"Generative AI can be a game-changer for virtually every business in every industry, opening up new possibilities for innovation, efficiency and growth," said Ravi Kumar S, CEO of Cognizant. The partnership is set to leverage Cognizant's industry expertise and Microsoft's AI solutions to deliver transformative gains for millions of users.

As part of the partnership, Cognizant has purchased 25,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot seats for its associates, along with 500 Sales Copilot seats and 500 Services Copilot seats. The company plans to deploy Microsoft 365 Copilot to a million users within its global 2000 clients across 11 industries.

Through Cognizant's Synapse skilling program, 35,000 Cognizant developers have been trained on GitHub Copilot, with an additional 40,000 developers slated to receive training. The partnership aims to deliver industry-specific solutions using Copilot Studio, a platform that allows users to create and customise their own industry-and-business-function specific Copilots.

"Our expanded partnership with Cognizant will help organisations harness generative AI to transform business operations, enhance employee experiences, and deliver new value for customers," said Judson Althoff, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Microsoft. "By combining Cognizant's industry expertise with Microsoft's Copilot capabilities -including Copilot for Microsoft 365 and GitHub Copilot - we will help drive AI adoption and innovation for millions of users across its network."

Cognizant's recently announced Advanced AI Lab will support these efforts, with a focus on advancing the science and practice of AI. The company is a member of Microsoft's Responsible AI Council and is dedicated to maintaining the highest standards for responsible and ethical AI. Cognizant holds all Modern Work and Security specialisations, and recently added the GitHub Copilot specialisation.