Generative AI Architect

About the role

Cognizant's Technology & Engineering team seeks a Generative AI Architect to shape enterprise innovation through Generative and Agentic AI. You will lead the design, adoption, and scaling of AI ecosystems for strategic clients, blending advisory, hands-on solutioning, and practice-building leadership. The role is based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India or Hyderabad, Telangana, India.

What you’ll do

• Design and implement modular, scalable AI platforms integrating LLMs, SLMs, and multi-agent orchestration that are cloud-native, secure, and industry-compliant
• Serve as anchor architect for major client accounts and lead C-level discussions to define AI roadmaps linking technology to measurable business outcomes
• Envision, design, and deliver verticalized AI use cases across industries including Banking & Financial Services, Healthcare, Insurance, Manufacturing, Retail, and Telecom
• Lead end-to-end model lifecycle including data preparation, training, fine-tuning, deployment, monitoring, and continuous improvement while balancing LLM vs. SLM adoption
• Establish enterprise standards for MLOps/LLMOps pipelines and build agent lifecycle governance frameworks for scalable, auditable AI systems
• Mentor and grow a community of architects and engineers, build capability squads, and shape the company's AI practice including skills development and hiring strategy
• Build and leverage strategic partnerships with hyperscalers, ISVs, and AI startups to co-develop joint offerings and co-sell AI solutions
• Publish white papers, frameworks, and patents, lead executive roundtables, and contribute to the Tech Radar to shape the AI conversation in the market

What you’ll bring

• 12+ years in IT & architecture with progression from hands-on engineering (Java/.NET preferred) into enterprise architecture leadership
• 5+ years in AI/ML with 1+ year in Generative & Agentic AI (LLMs, SLMs, multi-agent orchestration)
• Model training expertise including fine-tuning (SFT, RLHF, LoRA/QLoRA), RAG, and evaluation pipelines
• Architect-level expertise in at least two hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• MLOps/LLMOps mastery covering CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, observability, compliance, and AI cost governance
• Proven experience leading executive AI strategy discussions with Fortune 500 clients
• Familiarity with AI RMF (NIST), EU AI Act, and Responsible AI practices
• Experience mentoring teams and building cross-functional AI capability practices

Nice to have

• Publications, patents, or open-source contributions in Agentic AI, LLMOps, or model compression/distillation
• Recognized thought leadership via conferences, panels, or media interviews
• Industry domain depth in at least one vertical such as Banking & Payments, Healthcare, or Retail
• Experience with AgentOps, model evaluation frameworks, and AI observability tooling

Skills