For months, the loudest voices in artificial intelligence—including OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei—warned that entry-level white-collar jobs were headed for extinction. In recent weeks, both have walked back those statements.
And according to Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S., who oversees a workforce of more than 350,000 employees, the outcry wasn’t just a prediction gone wrong—it was fearmongering.
“There was a little bit of fearmongering from reading about the fact that there’s going to be a collapse of jobs,” Kumar said at Fortune’s COO Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona on Monday. “I think there will be more jobs.”
Cognizant hasn’t been immune to restructuring and layoffs as it works to transform for the AI era. But Kumar told Fortune’s executive editorial director Diane Brady that the company hired 20,000 entry-level college graduates last year alone—and expects that number to grow in 2026.
Some of those roles will likely fall under Cognizant’s new AI Builder strategy, which introduces two new positions: Frontier Certified Engineer and Frontier Business Operator. And even though his company is focused in the tech world, candidates don’t need a technical background to qualify.
“It could be a history major with skills to identify and use agentic work. It could be a biology major known as life sciences. It could be an HR accountant who can use agentic Claude terminals around them,” he said.
The workforce pyramid will begin to flatten, Kumar added, as there remains a need for both entry-level workers—as well as leaders to guide directions (he called the chief operations officer the most important role in any company). But in the middle, he said, is where AI will take charge.
“AIs will be in the middle of a flow. You want to have a ton of jobs in the front, you will have a ton of jobs in the back,” he said. “These are going to be validation and verification jobs, and those are going to be authentication jobs. Now, when you have a flat-earth pyramid, the biggest challenge is the middle layers are going to be leaner.”
Cognizant’s CEO says tokenmaxxing has measured AI all wrong
As companies have raced to demonstrate AI productivity gains, many have turned to token consumption as their primary measuring stick. Meta, Amazon, and OpenAI are among those that have leaned on token metrics as an internal measure of productivity. Kumar thinks that’s the wrong approach.
“For the last two years, how you consumed tokens, how much tokens you consumed was a vanity metric,” he said. “…I don’t think you should equate this to the number of paid hours. I don’t think you should equate this to productivity.”
Instead, Kumar argued that knowing how and when to deploy tokenization strategically will become a discipline in its own right — one that individual teams will need to develop and refine based on their specific workflows and business goals.
“It has to be grounded in the company’s hustle,” he said in the Fortune conversation titled “Great Restructuring: Rethinking Talent Strategy in the Age of AI.”
The broader shift, in Kumar’s view, is away from measuring inputs entirely: “We have to go from delivering projects, delivering billable hours, owning outcomes, and finally we have to underwrite those outcomes and be paid for those outcomes. I think that is the future. I believe we are going to reforge, and whoever reforges this future is going to be a winner on the other side.”
In recent months, leading figures in artificial intelligence (AI), such as OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, expressed concerns about the potential extinction of entry-level white-collar jobs due to advancements in AI. However, both have recently modified their statements, suggesting a more nuanced outlook on the future of work in the AI era.
Ravi Kumar S., the CEO of Cognizant, which employs over 350,000 people, criticized the initial fears surrounding job losses as « fearmongering. » Speaking at Fortune’s COO Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona, Kumar emphasized that rather than a decline, he anticipates an increase in job opportunities. Cognizant has faced its share of layoffs as it adapts to AI technologies, but it also hired 20,000 entry-level graduates in the previous year, with plans for more in 2026.
Kumar highlighted Cognizant’s new AI Builder strategy, which introduces two new roles: Frontier Certified Engineer and Frontier Business Operator. Notably, candidates for these positions do not necessarily need a technical background; a diverse range of educational backgrounds, such as history, biology, or human resources, can be relevant, provided candidates possess the skills to effectively utilize AI tools.
He also discussed the evolving structure of the workforce, predicting a flattening of the traditional workforce pyramid. While entry-level positions will remain essential, as well as leadership roles, Kumar noted that AI will increasingly occupy the middle layers of the workforce. These middle layers, which typically consist of managerial and administrative roles, are expected to become leaner as AI takes on verification and validation tasks.
Kumar criticized the current metrics used by many companies to gauge AI productivity, particularly the focus on token consumption. Major tech companies like Meta, Amazon, and OpenAI have relied heavily on token metrics as indicators of productivity. However, Kumar argued that this approach is misguided, describing token consumption as a « vanity metric. » He believes that organizations should not equate token usage with productivity or the number of paid hours worked.
Instead, Kumar posited that the strategic deployment of tokenization should evolve into a distinct discipline tailored to individual teams’ workflows and business goals. He asserted that businesses need to shift their focus from measuring inputs, such as project delivery and billable hours, to owning and underwriting outcomes. This, he argued, will be crucial for success in the future business landscape.
Kumar’s statements reflect a broader perspective on the role of AI in the workforce. He suggests that while AI will streamline certain processes and reduce the need for some middle management roles, there will still be a significant demand for entry-level positions and leadership roles that guide AI integration. The transformation will necessitate a rethinking of talent strategies, emphasizing adaptability and the ability to leverage AI effectively.
In summary, the discourse around AI and job extinction has shifted from alarmist predictions to a more balanced view that recognizes the potential for job creation alongside technological advancement. As companies like Cognizant navigate this transition, they are focusing on innovative roles and the strategic use of AI, indicating that the future workforce will require a blend of traditional skills and new competencies to thrive in an AI-driven economy.
