Organizations that pair mature technology infrastructure with a fundamentals-first AI investment strategy outperform laggards by 31% on composite outcomes—and could unlock trillions in unrealized value across the G2000
TEANECK, N.J., June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) today released new research showing that AI’s real-world results depend less on the technology itself than on the maturity of a company’s tech infrastructure and where it directs its investment. The companies getting this right are generating financial returns measurable in the billions.
The study, “Closing the AI Execution Gap: A $2 Billion Business Boost,” surveyed 1,100 senior business leaders at Global 2000 companies and 100 startups across 10 industries. Its central finding is stark: two-thirds of leaders have yet to demonstrate measurable business productivity gains from AI, and one in four have already paused or abandoned AI deployments—with an estimated average of $2 billion in unrealized cost savings and revenue opportunity.
The research identifies a clear set of behaviors that separates the top performers from the rest.
31% — The performance gap between the highest- and lowest-performing AI segments on composite outcomes.
$1B–$2B — Estimated annual returns available to a typical G2000 company that moves from the weakest to the strongest performing segment.
$4.7T — Total unrealized annual value across the G2000 when worker productivity, business productivity, revenue and cost reduction are included.
60% — How much more likely organizations with immature infrastructure and broad AI investment are to abandon a deployment versus those with the same infrastructure who invest in AI fundamentals first.
27% — Productivity advantage held by organizations with strong data foundations versus those still working to improve theirs.
“The evidence in this research could not be more direct: companies that build on a mature technology foundation and invest in AI fundamentals first are already generating billions in returns that their competitors are leaving on the table,” said Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S. “This is the AI Builder dividend and it is real, it is quantifiable, and it is widening. Two-thirds of organizations have yet to move the needle on business productivity from AI. That is not a capability gap in technology. That is an execution gap. Cognizant exists precisely to close it. We help companies do the work that unlocks AI value: strengthening compute infrastructure, building data foundations that AI can trust, and deploying the focused investment strategies that turn AI’s potential into verifiable, compounding returns.”
The research shows organizations can continue to improve their AI outcomes through building technical and data foundations, focusing investment strategies, and leveraging strong external partnerships where needed:
- Organizations with focused AI investment strategies outperform their peers regardless of maturity level—even lower-maturity companies with a focused approach achieve an 11.4% composite outcome score, versus 9.7% for same-maturity peers investing broadly
- Compute and data foundations are the most consequential infrastructure factors; just 19.9% of organizations rate their on-premises compute as excellent—and companies with excellent cloud compute outperform those with adequate ratings by 4.8 percentage points in worker productivity gains
- Data gaps are pervasive: 64.5% of organizations have at least one of five key data dimensions rated adequate or below; organizations with strong data foundations report nearly 27% higher productivity gains and are 20%+ less likely to abandon AI initiatives
- Infrastructure quality has a compounding effect on outcomes—organizations with all 10 infrastructure dimensions rated good or excellent achieve 15.6% average productivity gains; that drops to 14.1% with just one adequate dimension, and to 12.5% when any dimension needs improvement
- High-performing organizations are significantly more likely to work with external partners: 72–76% of focused-strategy companies engage outside expertise, compared to 54–60% of broad-investment peers
ABOUT COGNIZANT
Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) is an AI Builder and technology services provider, bridging the gap between AI investment and enterprise value by building full-stack AI solutions for our clients. Our deep industry, process and engineering expertise enables us to build an organization’s unique context into technology systems that amplify human potential, drive tangible outcomes and keep global enterprises ahead in a fast-changing world. See how at cognizant.ai or @cognizant.
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SOURCE Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation
