Cognizant yesterday announced a five-year strategic partnership with Telstra as part of the Australian telecommunications and technology company’s strategy for growth. Cognizant will introduce new ways of working to accelerate Telstra’s software engineering and IT capabilities and leverage modern technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) to drive innovation and improve operational efficiency.
The strategic partnership seeks to accelerate Telstra’s technology outcomes with Cognizant implementing modern product engineering practices that will enable Telstra to further improve its customer experience and speed to market. Leveraging its global capabilities, Cognizant will support Telstra’s strategy to enable more efficient software engineering and IT operations and decommission legacy systems. Moreover, the strategic partnership aims to support employee experience by building a superior engineering experience, further fostering a modern and innovative culture within Telstra.
“Cognizant is excited to partner with Telstra in support of its bold aspirations,” said Ravi Kumar S, CEO of Cognizant. “Telstra is a global leader in the way they are using innovation to transform their products and customer experiences, and we are proud to support them on this journey as one of their strategic IT partners.”
“In today’s rapidly advancing technology environment, strategic partnerships are fundamental to achieve our shared ambitions, in this case, digital leadership and great customer experiences. We’re on a journey of consolidation and simplification across Telstra, streamlining our operations to ensure sustainable growth, and selecting Cognizant as a strategic partner for our software engineering and IT function is a key part of that,” said Kim Krogh Andersen, Group Executive Product and Technology at Telstra.
“Our strategic partnership with Cognizant will help us build our modern software engineering capability – defined by modern product engineering practices, the latest tools and a stable workforce,” said Kieran O’Meara, Head of Software Engineering and IT at Telstra. “With agility at our core, we are redefining industry standards through cutting-edge methodologies, seamless integration of AI and an unwavering commitment to customer-centric design. Our hallmark is not merely code, but a culture of continuous learning, where diversity fuels innovation.”
Jane Livesey, Head of Asia Pacific and Japan at Cognizant said, “This partnership signals a new era in professional services. From the outset this arrangement was constructed with a focus on customer centricity and saw us depart from conventional contracting and delivery models that the industry has used for decades. We have worked closely with Telstra to build a strategic partnership framework that allows us to share in Telstra’s innovation goals, its risks and rewards. Through our shared accountability for outcomes and transformation, we are driven to improve operations, build efficient engineering teams, and reinvent the way we work by using the best of modern technology. Cognizant has invested heavily in AI and cloud, so we are excited to start this transformation journey with Telstra. By combining our deep technology skills, software engineering abilities, and digitization know-how, our goal is to rewire Telstra to unlock new opportunities and deliver unparalleled value for its customers.”