Cognizant's Bluebolt programme boosts client savings by $150m in a year
Global technology company Cognizant's grassroots programme, Bluebolt, has reportedly driven over $150 million in estimated annualised cost savings for clients, following its launch one year ago in April 2023. Aimed to utilise tech investments to maximal effect, Bluebolt is designed to help Cognizant's 350,000-strong employee base to contribute innovative solutions, of which over 130,000 have been submitted to date, with more than 23,000 implemented and 8,000 projects still in progress with clients.
Junior-level employees, defined as senior associate level or below, have contributed around 65% of the ideas that have been implemented by clients through the Bluebolt programme, Cognizant reports. Giving a more technical flair to the Bluebolt initiative, Cognizant has trained over 220,000 associates on the application. The programme has proved particularly beneficial in assisting employees transitioning between projects to remain actively engaged by building new skills.
According to Cognizant, the clients who have implemented most of the Bluebolt ideas hail from sectors such as Manufacturing/Logistics/Energy/Utilities, Insurance, and Banking and Financial Services. To further enhance and streamline the ideas to prototype or Minimum Viable Product (MVP) conversion process, Cognizant has introduced the 'Bluebolt Garage' programme that rapidly develops ideas using tools and accelerators for rapid development.
Set against the backdrop of emerging technologies like Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI), Cognizant's Bluebolt programme aims to drive forward business transformation through ideation and collaboration, as businesses continue to grapple with the integration of these new technologies. Notably, research has shown that 66% of executives are ambivalent or not satisfied with their company's progress on AI and Gen AI. However, studies have highlighted the business opportunities that Gen AI could present, with projections suggesting a potential $1 trillion boost to the U.S. economy by 2032.
Alexis Samuel, SVP and Head of Global Delivery Excellence at Cognizant, remarked on the success of the programme, stating "the true impact of innovation comes from how we maximise its value in the long term." He praised the employee's ingenuity and commitment to continuous improvement through Bluebolt, enriching a sense of innovative spirit within the company. Bluebolt has shown its impact by delivering thousands of ideas that generated top and bottom-line value for clients, including one case where a large U.S. energy company experienced a 10% reduction in program operations costs and significant improvements in billing accuracy, as a result of an implemented Bluebolt innovation.
Cognizant states the company continues to invest in technologies and resources that speed up the ideation and collaboration processes that power innovation for its clients. The company recently integrated a Gen AI-powered innovation assistant in collaboration with Microsoft, which supercharges how Cognizant's employees innovate, develop solutions for clients, and solve problems through the Bluebolt program. Complimenting this, the company also hosts regular Bluebolt hackathons and ideathons, and has recently launched innovation days to further advance idea generation and implementation in collaboration with clients.
