Associate Director – Agentic AI & Integration Platforms

About the role

As an Associate Director - AI, Integration & Process Platforms, you will make an impact by leading the end-to-end architecture, design, and engineering of Agentic and Generative AI solutions for enterprise clients, turning complex business problems into scalable, secure, and responsible AI architectures built on LLMs, multi-agent systems, orchestration frameworks, and cloud-native platforms. You will help shape how large enterprises move beyond experimentation to build, deploy, and govern intelligent systems at scale, sitting at the center of Cognizant's three-vector AI strategy. You will be a valued member of the AI, Integration & Process Platforms team and work collaboratively with business stakeholders, product owners, data scientists, engineers, and security teams.

In this role, you will

• Architect end-to-end Agentic and Generative AI solutions, including multi-agent systems for autonomous task planning, execution, reflection, and escalation, along with LLM selection, agent orchestration, memory, tools, data ingestion, vector stores, RAG, APIs, and integration layers.
• Embed Responsible AI principles such as fairness, explainability, transparency, human oversight, blast-radius controls, and kill-switch mechanisms, while ensuring compliance with AI governance standards, enterprise security policies, and regulatory frameworks.
• Translate business use cases into AI solution blueprints, reference architectures, and implementation roadmaps, and provide technical leadership to delivery teams across PoCs, pilots, and production deployments.
• Support pre-sales, RFPs, solutioning, and deal credentialization by articulating Agentic AI value propositions to business, technical, and executive audiences.
• Drive thought leadership and innovation by staying current with Generative AI and Agentic AI advancements, contributing to internal accelerators and reusable assets, and mentoring architects and engineering teams on GenAI and agent-based system design.

Work model

At Cognizant, we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role's business requirements, this is a remote position open to qualified applicants in the United States. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance through our various wellbeing programs.

The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you're engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured; we will always be clear about role expectations.

What you need to have to be considered

• 10+ years of experience in enterprise architecture, frontier engineering, AI engineering, or related technology leadership roles, with recent focus on Generative AI and Agentic AI.
• Hands-on knowledge of large language models, prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation, vector databases, agentic workflows, and agent orchestration frameworks.
• Experience designing AI, machine learning, or GenAI systems on hyperscaler platforms such as Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, or Amazon Web Services.
• Strong understanding of API-driven architectures, microservices, event-driven systems, cloud-native platforms, containers, orchestration, MLOps, and LLMOps.
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to business, technical, and executive audiences in client-facing or consulting environments.

These will help you stand out

• Experience with integration and business process management platforms such as Boomi, Kong, Pega, and Appian.
• Master's degree or Doctor of Philosophy degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related STEM field.
• Evidence of technical thought leadership, such as patents, technical publications, professional portfolio, peer recognition, or similar contributions.
• Experience with agentic AI governance frameworks, autonomous system controls, responsible AI practices, and outcome monitoring.
• Exposure to industry-specific Generative AI use cases across communications, media, technology, banking, financial services, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, or similar domains.

We're excited to meet people who share our mission and can make an impact in a variety of ways. Don't hesitate to apply, even if you only meet the minimum requirements listed. Think about your transferable experiences and unique skills that make you stand out as someone who can bring new and exciting things to this role.

Salary and Other Compensation

Applications will be accepted until November 27, 2026.

• The annual salary for this position is between $185,000 - $200,000 depending on the experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.
• This position is also eligible for Cognizant's discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant's applicable plans.