Cognizant closed 2025 with solid financial performance, supported by steady revenue growth, rising bookings, strong large deal wins and continued investments in generative AI talent and platforms. The IT services major said fourth quarter revenue reached $5.3 billion, an increase of 4.9 percent year on year, while full-year revenue grew 7.0 percent to $21.1 billion.
Revenue and Bookings Performance
Cognizant’s deal pipeline strengthened through 2025, with trailing 12-month bookings rising 5 percent year over year to $28.4 billion. This translated into a healthy book-to-bill ratio of approximately 1.3x, underlining sustained demand across its core services portfolio. Fourth quarter bookings grew faster at 9 percent year over year, highlighting improving client spending momentum toward the end of the year.
The company signed 28 large deals during 2025, including 12 in the fourth quarter alone. These large deals, each with a total contract value of $100 million or more, included two mega deals valued at $500 million or above. Cognizant said total contract value from large deals increased by nearly 50 percent year over year, reflecting deeper client engagements and expanded scope in digital, cloud and AI-led programs.
Cognizant has generated revenue of $6,347 million from Health Sciences, $6,173 million from Financial Services, $5,285 million from Products & Resources, and $3,303 million from Communications, Media & Technology in 2025.
Cognizant has generated revenue of $15,780 million from North America, $4,012 million from Europe, and $1,316 million from Rest of World in 2025.
Workforce Growth and Attrition Trends
Cognizant continued to stabilize its workforce metrics while selectively adding talent. Total headcount stood at 351,600 as of December 31, 2025, an increase of 1,800 sequentially and 14,800 year over year. On a trailing 12-month basis, voluntary attrition in tech services declined to 13.9 percent, compared with 14.5 percent at the end of September 2025 and 15.9 percent a year earlier.
The company highlighted that voluntary attrition declined by roughly 200 basis points year over year, reflecting improved employee engagement and retention initiatives. Cognizant also funded its discretionary annual bonus at the highest level since 2018, reinforcing its focus on talent investment.
Generative AI at Scale
Generative AI remains a central pillar of Cognizant’s strategy. The company said around 260,000 employees are now skilled in generative AI, supported by extensive internal training and innovation programs. More than 35,000 promotions were completed in 2025, with over 110,000 promotions delivered in the last three years.
Cognizant also hosted the world’s largest generative AI hackathon, attracting more than 200,000 participants, including over 53,000 active coders. Its Bluebolt innovation program generated approximately 340,000 ideas, while AI Labs secured 61 U.S.-issued AI patents. The company noted that over 30 percent of its code is now AI assisted, reflecting productivity gains across delivery teams.
Leadership Commentary
Ravi Kumar S, Chief Executive Officer of Cognizant, said the company’s investments in people, partnerships and AI platforms are enabling clients to scale AI across the enterprise. He noted that these efforts directly contributed to the signing of 28 large deals in 2025 and the sharp growth in large deal total contract value.
Outlook for 2026
Looking ahead, Cognizant expects continued growth in 2026. First quarter revenue is projected to be in the range of $5.36 billion to $5.44 billion, representing growth of 4.8 percent to 6.3 percent. For the full year 2026, the company forecast revenue between $22.14 billion and $22.66 billion, implying growth of 4.9 percent to 7.4 percent.
RAJANI BABURAJAN
