AI Customer Engineer

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation; New Jersey; Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

401(k) plan and stock awards

Paid holidays & time off

Job summary

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation is seeking an AI Forward Deployed Engineer to help clients understand, shape, and activate AI value in business. You will work across sales, engineering, and clients to turn AI use cases into MVPs, POCs, and commercially strong solutions that accelerate deal conversion.

The role sits at the intersection of AI technology, solution architecture, and business value, requiring hands‑on delivery in a fast‑moving environment.

Qualifications

• Hands‑on experience with building AI agents (ADK/CoPilot Studio or equivalents).
• Experience defining prompts, tools, reasoning, guardrails for AI agents.
• Strong experience with RAG pipelines, vector databases, tokenization, and prompt engineering.
• Proficiency in Python libraries, LangChain, Hugging Face, and OpenAI API.
• Developing RESTful APIs in Python (FastAPI) and integrating third‑party services.
• Experience with Docker‑based deployments and GitHub version control.

Responsibilities

• Lead early‑stage discovery sessions with clients and account teams.
• Identify pain points, value levers, and high‑impact AI opportunities.
• Design AI solutions with LLMs, data sources, and integrations under guidance.
• Build prototypes, demos, accelerators, and reusable agentic blueprints.
• Engineer and validate AI agents for reliability, safety, and performance.
• Lead POCs, pilots, and MVPs across industries.

Skills

AI agent development

Prompt engineering

REST APIs (Python)

Docker deployments

LangChain/HuggingFace

Python libraries

LLM selection

Education

Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent

Tools

Python

FastAPI

Docker

GitHub

LangChain

OpenAI API

Job description

About The Role

We are looking for a highly‑skilled and consultative AI Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to help clients understand, shape, and activate the potential of AI in their business. This role partners closely with sales, industry specialists, engineering, and clients to turn priority AI use cases into MVPs, POCs, and commercially strong solutions that accelerate deal conversion.

We will sit at the intersection of AI technology, solution architecture, and business value, guiding clients from early‑stage ideation through to validated solution designs. This is a hands‑on, high‑impact role suited for a technical expert who thrives in ambiguous, fast‑moving sales cycles.

In This Role You Will

• Drive early‑stage discovery sessions with clients and account teams.
• Identify pain points, value levers, and high‑impact AI opportunities.
• Build “North Star” AI scenarios that illustrate meaningful business transformation.
• Translate vague or complex client questions into clear solution hypotheses and initial architectural logic.
• Design AI solutions by putting together the main components (LLMs, data sources, integrations) under guidance from senior engineers.
• Build prototypes, storyboards, demos, accelerators, and reusable agentic blueprints.
• Engineer & validate AI agents for reliability, reasoning, safety, and performance.
• Lead POCs, pilots, and phase‑0 MVPs across industries.
• Create compelling, client‑ready content: SoWs, proposals, architecture decks, value frameworks, and demo storylines.
• Lead technical walkthroughs, deep‑dives, and competitive differentiation discussions.
• Refine solution narratives based on client feedback and market conditions.
• Oversee seamless transition from sales to delivery, ensuring continuity and clarity.

Work Model

This hybrid position in New Jersey requires 3‑4 days a week in a client or Cognizant office. We support a healthy work‑life balance through various wellbeing programs. Working arrangements may change based on the project and business needs; we will always be clear about role expectations.

What You Need To Be Considered

• Hands‑on experience with Google ADK or CoPilot Studio or similar tools (e.g., CrewAI, Autogen) for building AI agents.
• Hands‑on working knowledge of defining and configuring prompts, instructions, tools, reasoning, guardrails and other concepts in AI agent development.
• Strong experience with RAG pipelines, vector databases, tokenization, and prompt engineering.
• Hands‑on experience in creating and maintaining Python libraries, utilizing LangChain, Hugging Face, OpenAI API, or local models.
• Very strong experience with developing RESTful APIs in Python using frameworks such as FastAPI and integrating third‑party services, UI components, and APIs.
• Hands‑on experience with Docker‑based deployments and using GitHub for code repositories and version control.
• Ownership of end‑to‑end architecture: LLM selection, context engineering, microservices, integrations, and UI.
• Build prototypes, storyboards, demos, accelerators, and reusable agentic blueprints.
• Engineer & validate AI agents for reliability, reasoning, safety, and performance.
• Lead POCs, pilots, and phase‑0 MVPs across industries.
• Create thought leadership, reusable assets, and mentor engineering teams.
• Collaborate with hyperscalers and product partners to craft next‑generation AI‑led experiences.
• Strong communication and articulation skills.
• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience.

This Will Help You Stand Out

• MS or MBA degree.
• Demonstrated ability to turn ambiguous business problems into crisp AI use cases with clear value hypotheses and measurable outcomes.
• Hands‑on prototyping mindset, quickly building functional demos, agent workflows, or LLM‑powered interactions that accelerate client conviction.
• Track record collaborating with hyperscalers, LLM providers, or ISVs in co‑sell or co‑build motions.

Salary And Other Compensation

The annual salary for this position is between $140,000 and $200,000 depending on experience and other qualifications.

Benefits

This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program and stock awards, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance.
• Paid holidays plus paid time off.
• 401(k) plan and contributions.
• Long‑term and short‑term disability.
• Paid parental leave.
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

Work Authorization

Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship, now or any time in the future.