External signal·Fortune·Jun 2, 2026·Diane Brady·4 min read
Cognizant CEO says AI is remaking middle managers into player-coaches who can 'both execute and develop others'
“Now technology bridges that, which means we need a player-coach who isn't competing with the technology but has the experience to verify, validate … people who can both execute and develop others.”
Summary
In this Fortune CEO Daily interview from the COO Summit, Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S. argues that AI is collapsing the information asymmetry that justified middle management, reshaping those roles into 'player-coaches' who both execute and develop others. He describes a new mode of working—'macro delegate and micro steer'—in which workers offload tasks to personal AI agents and direct outcomes rather than write code, prompting Cognizant to create new 'frontier' engineer and business-operator roles. Kumar expects the corporate pyramid to flatten, with middle layers shifting toward verification, validation, and authentication work. He stresses lifelong learning starting in K-12, and is reportedly hiring over 20,000 entry-level graduates.
Predictions for the future of work
Kumar predicts a flatter workforce pyramid that still needs entry-level workers and senior leaders but compresses the middle into leaner verification, validation, and authentication roles. He forecasts that coding skills matter less while the ability to direct AI agents ('macro delegate and micro steer') and to verify and develop people becomes central, spawning new job categories like Cognizant's frontier-certified engineers. He stresses lifelong learning beginning in K-12 and a transfer of agency to individuals who operate as 'free agents.' Timeframe is short on visibility (two to three years), affecting IT-services workers, middle managers, and new graduates.
Originally published by Fortune · Jun 2, 2026
Read the original at Fortune