Cognizant hooks up with Telstra for 5-year strategic partnership

Global technology consulting giant Cognizant has signed a five-year strategic partnership deal with Telstra to help enhance the Australian telco’s software engineering and IT capabilities.

According to Cognizant, the partnership will see the firm implement “modern product engineering practices” to support Telstra in enhancing its customer experience and speed to market, including through the adoption of AI and other emerging technologies to drive innovation and improve operational efficiency.

“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 Telstra product & technology group executive Kim Krogh Andersen.

Krogh Andersen further noted that strategic partnerships are now fundamental to achieving shared ambitions in today’s rapidly advancing technology environment, while Telstra’s software engineering and IT lead Kieran O’Meara made reference to a stable workforce with agility at its core and a culture of diversity fuelling innovation.

Telstra has been working with McKinsey & Company for a number of years on its long-term strategy, originally on its ‘T22’ organisational restructure aimed at uncovering $2.5 billion in savings and then on its ‘T25’ post-transformation growth agenda. The approach has led to widespread job losses, including some 500 to increased automation reported last year.

The latest long-term advisory engagement however was described by Cognizant Asia Pacific & Japan head Jane Livesey as signalling 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.”

Appointed regional boss toward the end of 2022, Livesey continued by saying that Cognizant had worked closely with Telstra to devise a strategic partnership framework which would introduce new ways of working and allow the consultancy to share in the telco’s innovation goals as well as the risks and rewards through joint “accountability for outcomes and transformation.”