AI SME, Telco Consulting (Associate Director)

Cognizant Technology Solutions; City Of London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading global professional services company is seeking an AI Evangelist to promote AI adoption and transformation across the organization. Responsibilities include driving awareness, identifying AI opportunities, and shaping use cases in the telecom sector. Candidates should have strong technical competencies in telecom ecosystems and AI, excellent communication skills, and a track record in digital transformation. This role is crucial for fostering a culture of data-driven innovation and ensuring successful AI initiatives.

Benefits

Collaborative and inclusive workplace

Career development opportunities

Supportive community

Qualifications

• Proven ability to shape AI-enabled use cases and promote best practices.
• Experience in leading workshops or innovation labs.
• Strong business acumen around digital transformation.

Responsibilities

• Champion the vision for AI and drive cultural transformation.
• Identify high-impact AI opportunities aligned with business priorities.
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership on AI strategy.

Skills

Strong understanding of telecom ecosystems (BSS/OSS/Network/CX/Operations)

Excellent storytelling, communication, and presentation skills

Ability to influence executive stakeholders

Solid hands-on experience with AI/ML pipelines

Data platforms and streaming analytics

Education

Certifications in AI/ML, GenAI, Cloud, or Data Engineering

Tools

Cloud services (AWS/Azure/GCP)

APIs

Job description

AI Evangelist, Telco Consulting (Associate Director)

The Company

Cognizant (NASDAQ:CTSH) is a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services, dedicated to helping the world's leading companies build stronger businesses. Headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey (U.S.), Cognizant has over 350,000 employees as of January 2024. Cognizant is a member of the NASDAQ-100, the S&P 500, the Forbes Global 1000, and the Fortune 500 and is ranked among the top performing and fastest growing companies in the world.

Cognizant Consulting

At Cognizant, our consultants orchestrate the capabilities to truly change the game across strategy, design, technology and industry/functional knowledge to deliver insight at speed and solutions at scale. Our consulting services elevate the unique abilities and business aspirations of customers and employees and build relationships based on trust and value.

Role Overview

We are looking for an inspiring AI + Data Evangelist to drive awareness, adoption, and cultural transformation around AI, Generative AI, Agentic AI, and data‑driven decisioning across the organisation. The role acts as a bridge between business teams, technology teams, and senior leadership to articulate AI value, identify transformation opportunities, shape AI‑enabled use cases, and promote best practices across BSS, OSS, Network, CX, and Operations.

The ideal candidate is a storyteller, strategist, and hands‑on innovator who can simplify complex AI concepts, influence cross‑functional teams, and guide the enterprise toward becoming an AI‑first telco.

Key Responsibilities

AI Evangelism & Thought Leadership

• Champion the vision for AI, GenAI, and Agentic AI adoption across business units and technology domains.
• Deliver inspirational talks, demos, PoVs, and workshops to accelerate organisational AI literacy.
• Shape the narrative of how AI will transform BSS, OSS, network operations, customer experience, field operations, and enterprise processes.
• Act as an internal influencer to build a culture of experimentation and data‑driven innovation.

Opportunity Identification & Use Case Design

• Work with stakeholders to identify high‑impact AI/GenAI opportunities aligned with business priorities.
• Create use case backlogs, business value assessments, and prioritisation frameworks.Design AI use cases across domains such as:
• Customer service (NLP, chatbots, agent assist)
• BSS (automated journeys, intelligent CRM, catalogue automation)
• OSS/Network (predictive assurance, autonomous ops, network slicing intelligence)
• Enterprise functions (HR, Finance, supply chain insights)
• Collaborate with product managers and enterprise architects to shape MVPs and pilot roadmaps.

Data Strategy & Enablement

• Advocate for strong data governance, data quality, cataloguing, and democratization.
• Promote the use of modern data platforms, streaming analytics, vector search, and LLM‑ready architectures.
• Translate analytics and AI potential into business value narratives for leadership teams.
• Support data literacy programs across non‑technical teams.

Experimentation & Innovation

• Lead PoCs, showcase emerging AI frameworks, and conduct hands‑on demos.
• Stay updated on telco AI innovations – digital twins, autonomous networks, intelligent assurance, RAG, multi‑agent systems.
• Partner with engineering teams, cloud teams, and vendors to assess tools and capabilities for scaling.

Stakeholder Engagement & Communication

• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership on AI strategy and industry trends.
• Work closely with BUs, architecture, and product teams to align AI initiatives with enterprise roadmaps.
• Present complex AI concepts in simplified, business‑friendly language.
• Prepare executive thought leadership papers, showcases, roadmaps, and storytelling collateral.

Skills & Experience Requirements

Technical Competencies

• Strong understanding of telecom ecosystems (BSS/OSS/Network/CX/Operations).
• Solid hands‑on experience or strong working knowledge of:
• AI/ML pipelines, MLOps/LLMOps
• Generative AI (LLMs, RAG, embeddings, prompt engineering)
• Agentic AI frameworks and multi‑agent orchestration
• Data platforms, big data tools, streaming analytics
• APIs, cloud services (AWS/Azure/GCP)
• Ability to conceptualize and communicate architecture patterns (AI‑driven ops, vector databases, knowledge graphs, digital twins).

Business & Leadership Competencies

• Excellent storytelling, communication, and presentation skills.
• Ability to influence executive stakeholders and create buy‑in.
• Strong business acumen around digital transformation, cost optimisation, and productisation of AI.
• Experience in leading workshops, hackathons, or innovation labs.
• Ability to mentor teams and drive organisational data literacy.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certifications in AI/ML, GenAI, Cloud, or Data Engineering.
• Experience working with major telecom operators or technology vendors.
• Knowledge of TM Forum frameworks (Open APIs, eTOM, ODA).

Why This Role Matters

This role is central to accelerating the organisation's journey toward becoming a data‑powered, AI‑native, autonomous telco. As the AI & Data Evangelist, you will be the storyteller, catalyst, and culture‑builder who connects strategy to execution and transforms how teams work, make decisions, and innovate.

The Cognizant community

We are a high caliber team who appreciate and support one another. Our people uphold an energetic, collaborative and inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.

• Cognizant is a global community with more than 300,000 associates around the world.
• We don't just dream of a better way - we make it happen.
• We take care of our people, clients, company, communities and climate by doing what's right.
• We foster an innovative environment where you can build the career path that's right for you.

About us

Cognizant is one of the world's leading professional services companies, transforming clients' business, operating, and technology models for the digital era. Our unique industry‑based, consultative approach helps clients envision, build, and run more innovative and efficient businesses. Headquartered in the U.S., Cognizant (a member of the NASDAQ‑100 and one of Forbes World's Best Employers 2025) is consistently listed among the most admired companies in the world. Learn how Cognizant helps clients lead with digital at www.cognizant.com

Cognizant is an equal opportunity employer. Your application and candidacy will not be considered based on race, color, sex, religion, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

Disclaimer: Compensation information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.

Applicants may be required to attend interviews in person or by video conference. In addition, candidates may be required to present their current state or government issued ID during each interview.