Chief Strategy Officer – AI Platforms (AIP)

Leading at Cognizant This is a Leadership role at Cognizant. We believe how you lead is as important as what you deliver. Cognizant leaders at every level: Drive our business strategy and inspire teams around our future. Live the leadership behaviors , leading themselves, others and the business. Uphold our Values , role modeling them in every action and decision. Nurture our people and culture , creating a workplace where all can thrive.

At Cognizant, leadership transcends titles and is embodied in actions and behaviors. We empower our leaders at every level to drive business strategy, inspire teams, uphold our values, and foster an inclusive culture.

About The Role As a Chief Strategy Officer – AI Platforms (AIP), you will make an impact by driving the strategic vision and competitive positioning of Cognizant’s AI Platforms business, shaping organic and inorganic growth priorities. You will be a valued member of the team and work collaboratively with stakeholders and clients.

In This Role, You Will Enterprise Growth Strategy

• Define 3-5 year AI Platform growth strategy, strategic bets, market entry priorities and value-creation roadmap
• Align leadership on ambition, sequencing, trade-offs and success measures

Portfolio Strategy & Capital Allocation

• Own Invest / Grow / Optimize / Harvest / Sunset portfolio framework and resource-allocation logic
• Govern product-family P&Ls, R&D prioritization, ROI/ROPC and value realization

Platform Monetization & GTM Strategy

• Define SaaS, usage-based, tokenized and outcome-based commercial models
• Partner with Sales, Marketing and FSE to package offerings, pricing, analyst positioning and sales plays
• M&A, Alliances & Ecosystem Strategy
• Lead build / buy / partner decisions, strategic acquisitions, hyperscaler / ISV alliances and integration thesis

Market & Competitive Intelligence

• Track competitors, emerging AI trends, whitespace, pricing movements and client buying signals

Strategy Execution & Governance

• Convert strategy into OKRs, transformation programs, executive scorecards, decision rights and operating cadence

Cross-functional Leadership & Capability Building

• Build the strategy bench and drive alignment across Product, Engineering, GTM, Finance, Operations and Customer Success

Consistently demonstrate the Cognizant Way to Lead, which means operating with Personal Leadership (building trust, collaboration, and inclusion), Organizational Leadership (driving vision and purpose, demonstrating a strategic and enterprise mindset, and creating and communicating a bold direction that inspires purpose), and Business Leadership (exemplifying client focus, managing ambiguity with accountability and results, and operating with financial acumen)

What You Need To Have To Be Considered

• Minimum 20+ years in enterprise software / AI platform strategy, product portfolio leadership, SaaS/PaaS GTM or corporate strategy
• Minimum 10+ years influencing executive-level capital allocation, portfolio governance, M&A / alliances or business transformation
• Proven record scaling product/platform businesses, defining recurring revenue models, and leading cross-functional strategy execution
• Strong healthcare / regulated-industry exposure preferred; experience across multiple industries and global markets strongly preferred
• Embodiment of the Cognizant Way to Lead: Leading Self, Leading Others, & Leading the Business
• The embodiment of Cognizant’s Values of: Work as One, Dare to Innovate, Raise the Bar, Do The right Thing, & Own It

These will help you succeed

• Strategy & Value Creation: Expert in market-backed strategic choices, scenario planning, value pools and enterprise value growth
• Portfolio & Capital Discipline: Advanced product-family P&L, ROPC, capital allocation, lifecycle and investment governance
• Platform Commercialization: SaaS/PaaS, tokenized/usage pricing, packaging, marketplace, NRR and platform attach economics
• AI / Technology Fluency: Working knowledge of AI platforms, GenAI, cloud, data, APIs, MLOps, responsible AI and platform architecture
• Executive Influence: Board/ELT-ready communication, negotiation, stakeholder alignment and decision-rights design
• Transformation Leadership: Operating model design, OKRs, cadence management, cross-functional change leadership and accountability systems

Work model We believe hybrid work is the way…