Cognizant’s Expansion Strategy for AI Data Centres

Cognizant is expanding its position in AI infrastructure and data centre services through a US$600m agreement to acquire Astreya, as demand for hyperscale computing and AI workloads continues to grow.

The acquisition brings Astreya’s operational managed services business, AI infrastructure expertise and proprietary automation platform into Cognizant’s portfolio. Astreya operates across more than 35 countries and works with six of the so-called “Magnificent Seven” hyperscalers.

The move comes as hyperscalers and enterprise organisations increase spending on AI-ready infrastructure, with data centre development becoming a central part of wider digital transformation strategies.

“Between 2025 and 2030, there is a projected US$6.7tn AI data centre infrastructure buildout currently reshaping the global technology landscape, with global capacity expected to double in five years,” says Ravi Kumar S, CEO of Cognizant.

“The five largest hyperscalers are expected to spend nearly US$700bn on infrastructure in 2026 alone.

“By acquiring Astreya and its proprietary AI tooling and production-grade infrastructure platform, which is complementary to Cognizant’s AI builder stack, we will be even better-positioned to help clients architect their platform-led AI systems and operationalise them at scale.”

Cognizant has already expanded its AI and cloud capabilities through partnerships with Microsoft and Anthropic, alongside its acquisition of 3Cloud to strengthen its Microsoft Azure services portfolio.

Expanding AI infrastructure services

Astreya’s business centres on managing complex technology environments at hyperscale level, including AI laboratories, enterprise networks, workplace technology and data centre infrastructure.

Its AI OpsHub platform includes automation and agentic AI capabilities designed to support infrastructure readiness assessments, operational analysis and service management.

For data centre operators and hyperscale cloud providers, operational efficiency and automation are becoming more important as AI deployments increase rack density, compute requirements and energy demand.

Astreya’s existing partnerships with Google Cloud Platform and ServiceNow also add to Cognizant’s wider AI infrastructure ecosystem.

The company’s experience managing distributed infrastructure across international markets aligns with increasing enterprise demand for scalable AI environments and resilient digital infrastructure.

Hyperscale demand drives investment

The acquisition reflects continued growth in AI data centre investment across North America and other global markets.

Hyperscalers are increasing capital expenditure to support AI training and inference workloads, creating demand for data centre services, operational management and automation platforms.

“Astreya has redefined what it means to be a trusted partner in the AI era, embedding intelligence into every solution, without losing the human connection that drives real results,” says Romil Bahl, President and CEO at Astreya.

“Joining Cognizant is the natural next chapter for the Astreya global team and importantly, the clients who have trusted us to operate their most critical technology environments.

“We have spent the last several years making deliberate, disciplined investments in AI: building platforms, training specialists and fundamentally redesigning how managed services are delivered. We look forward to attacking the AI infrastructure era as a part of Cognizant.”

The transaction positions Cognizant to support organisations building AI-ready digital infrastructure while also strengthening relationships with hyperscale cloud providers.

AI infrastructure and economic growth

Cognizant says AI infrastructure investment is becoming closely tied to wider economic activity, particularly in the United States where data centre construction and supporting industries continue to expand.

The company expects the Astreya acquisition to strengthen its ability to support large-scale AI infrastructure projects and hyperscaler environments.

As Surya Gummadi, President of Cognizant Americas, explains: “AI data centre investment is a critical path for future economic and job growth, especially in the US, where data centres and related high-tech investment activities were estimated to account for 80% of private domestic demand growth in the first half of 2025.

“Hyperscaler capital spending is now nearing US$400bn annually, with each direct data centre job supporting more than six jobs elsewhere in the economy.

“Effective and credible scaling of AI infrastructure, including data centres, requires deep context and AI builder expertise.

“We expect the acquisition of Astreya will meaningfully expand Cognizant's AI Infrastructure capabilities and enhance our powerful ‘Magnificent Seven’ hyperscaler relationships.”

The acquisition is expected to close during the second quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.