IT services major Cognizant has made big expansion plans for India, which houses around 70 per cent of the company’s global workforce.

The New Jersey-based company plans to set up a Cognizant Immersive Learning Center at its Siruseri campus in Chennai over an area of 14 acres to be completed in three years.

“We aim to train 100,000 individuals annually in advanced AI technologies,” Ravi Kumar S, CEO and director, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp told analysts at the quarterly earnings call of the company.

The campus will feature 14,000 seats, smart classrooms, incubator hubs, client experience spaces, design thinking centers along with residential accommodations and well-being facilities, the company has said in a statement.

The company has reportedly sold its office in Chennai last month and now plans to redeploy the proceeds to support expansion in the country.

“First quarter free cash flow was $393 million. This includes $70 million from the sale of an office complex in India, which we plan to redeploy in India over the next several years, including for the development of a new 14-acre learning campus in Chennai,” said Jatin Dalal, CFO, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.

The company has also entered into an agreement with US based financial institution - Citizens Financial Group Inc., to launch a global capability centre (GCC) in Hyderabad. Cognizant said in a statement that the GCC will accelerate innovation and execution of the bank’s enterprise technology strategy.

“We view GCC as a growth opportunity for both clients and ourselves. Our differentiators in the GCC space include deep domain expertise in the industries we serve, our technology prowess and our capability strength in India and the US,” said Ravi Kumar S.

As of December 31, 2024, of the 336,800 associates that Cognizant had, 241,500 were from India.

The IT firm is also looking to hire around 20,000 freshers in 2025 to support managed services and AI-led software development.

During the first quarter, Cognizant’s revenue, at $5.1 billion, was up 7.5 per cent year over year and 8.2 per cent on a constant currency basis, above the high end of the company’s guidance range for the period.

For the second quarter, the company has guided for a growth of 5.9-7.4 per cent or 5-6.5 per cent on a constant currency basis for the revenue at $5.14-5.21 billion.