Field Solution Engineer-AI
About the role
The Field Solution Engineer (FSE) is the technical anchor of an enterprise platform deal. They engage clients directly and champion our platforms in the market, translating client engineering, AI, cloud, and operations challenges into credible, demonstrable solutions built on our platforms.
Responsibilities
Partners with sales, account and professional services teams as the technical lead on enterprise platform pursuits, owning the technical win from qualification to close.
Runs technical discovery to understand a client's engineering, AI, cloud and operations landscape, and maps their outcomes to the right platform or combination of platforms.
Designs and presents solution architectures that show how our platforms integrate with the client's existing tooling, hyperscaler footprint and ecosystem partners.
Builds and delivers compelling, tailored demonstrations and drives proofs of concept and readiness assessments that de-risk adoption and prove value.
Articulates the commercial and delivery value of platforms — including chargeback, managed-services and outcome-based models — and helps quantify productivity, cost and time-to-market benefits.
Responds to the technical sections of RFPs, RFIs and bid processes, and shapes proposals with credible, defensible solutioning.
Represents the platforms at industry events and conferences (e.g. AWS re:Invent, Google Next, Microsoft Ignite) and in cloud-marketplace and partner motions.
Champions the platforms in the market — building client mindshare and establishing Cognizant as a leading software firm and our platforms as best-in-class software.
Captures recurring client requirements and field feedback, and works with our Platform Engineering teams to channel enhancement requests into the roadmap.
Hands off to our implementation teams and Forward Deployed Engineers for delivery, protecting adoption and reducing churn once a platform is adopted.
Identifies opportunities to leverage our Forward Deployed Engineers to drive platform adoption across the client's estate, driving outcomes and creating value for clients.
Grooms and builds a team of FSEs around themselves — mentoring and developing talent to scale the technical go-to-market motion.
Requirements
An experienced software or platform product engineer — for example an advisory/solutions engineer, developer advocate or solution architect for a software product, or a hands-on software engineer ready to move into a client-facing technical go-to-market role; experience in software products is valued over IT-services.
Minimum 2+ years hands-on across the AI-infused Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) — modern engineering and DevSecOps, legacy and cloud modernization for AI readiness, AI assurance (quality testing and performance-drift monitoring) and run operations (SRE / AIOps) — and the Agent Development Lifecycle (ADLC), building agentic and gen-AI solutions with large language and performance-optimized small language models.
Working knowledge of our key partner ecosystems — hyperscalers (AWS, Microsoft, Google) and AI-native providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, NVIDIA) — and the surrounding AI/engineering tooling (LLM providers, orchestration frameworks, CI/CD and observability).
Excellent communication and storytelling — able to build and deliver demos that translate technical capability into clear business outcomes.
Comfort operating in ambiguity, managing multiple pursuits, and collaborating across our sales/commercial, Platform Engineering, Demo and Workshops, and implementation/Forward Deployed Engineering teams.
Willingness to travel to client sites, studios and industry events as required.
Nice to have:
- Hyperscaler or relevant professional certifications (solutions architect, DevOps, ML/AI, security).
- Experience championing or delivering PaaS / SaaS or platform-based engagements, including managed-services or outcome-based commercial models.
- Exposure to cloud-marketplace listings and co-sell motions with AWS, Azure, GCP or NVIDIA.
- Prior experience contributing platform feedback into product roadmaps.
Qualifications
Minimum 20+ years in software, AI, digital and cloud engineering — including 5+ years in advisory-led technical conversations on software products and platforms with senior client engineers and architects and C-suite technology leaders (CTO, CDO, CIO, CAIO).
Skills
Experience in software products is valued over IT-services.
Minimum 2+ years hands-on across the AI-infused Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) — modern engineering and DevSecOps, legacy and cloud modernization for AI readiness, AI assurance (quality testing and performance-drift monitoring) and run operations (SRE / AIOps) — and the Agent Development Lifecycle (ADLC), building agentic and gen-AI solutions with large language and performance-optimized small language models.
Working knowledge of our key partner ecosystems — hyperscalers (AWS, Microsoft, Google) and AI-native providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, NVIDIA) — and the surrounding AI/engineering tooling (LLM providers, orchestration frameworks, CI/CD and observability).
Excellent communication and storytelling — able to build and deliver demos that translate technical capability into clear business outcomes.
Comfort operating in ambiguity, managing multiple pursuits, and collaborating across our sales/commercial, Platform Engineering, Demo and Workshops, and implementation/Forward Deployed Engineering teams.
Willingness to travel to client sites, studios and industry events as required.
Nice to have:
- Hyperscaler or relevant professional certifications (solutions architect, DevOps, ML/AI, security).
- Experience championing or delivering PaaS / SaaS or platform-based engagements, including managed-services or outcome-based commercial models.
- Exposure to cloud-marketplace listings and co-sell motions with AWS, Azure, GCP or NVIDIA.
- Prior experience contributing platform feedback into product roadmaps.
Benefits
The annual salary for this position is between $190,000 - $230,000 depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate. This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual bonus program and stock awards, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.
Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:
- Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance
- Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off
- 401(k) plan and contributions
- Long-term/Short-term Disability
- Paid Parental Leave
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan
Disclaimer
The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, based on applicable law. A Good fit for the Cognizant culture A person who possesses a true passion for changing organizations for the better, and desires to do so within a goal, yet professional atmosphere filled with business professionals who all manifest a belief in partnership, innovation, and excellence.
Our “Cultural Value Drivers” are well-known and clearly communicated within the organization: Open, Visible, Motivated, Empowered, Opportunity-Filled, Flexible & Collaborative.