COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS CORP

Competition ." We compete on the basis of reputation and experience, strategic advisory capabilities, digital and AI capabilities, performance and reliability, responsiveness to customer needs, financial stability, corporate governance and competitive pricing of services. The less we are able to differentiate our services and solutions and/or clearly convey the value of our services and solutions, the more difficulty we have in winning new work in sufficient volumes and at our target pricing and overall economics. In addition to large, global competitors, we face competition in many geographic markets from numerous smaller, local competitors that may have more experience with operations in these markets, have well-established relationships with our desired clients, or be able to provide services and solutions at lower costs or on terms more attractive to clients than we can. Additionally, we face competition from clients' in-house technology resources, such as GCCs, which may provide a lower cost alternative to our services. Consolidation activity may also result in new competitors with greater scale, a broader footprint or vertical integration that makes them more attractive to clients as a single provider of integrated products and services. In addition, concurrent use by many clients of multiple professional service providers means that we are required to be continually competitive on the quality, scope and pricing of our offerings or face a reduction or elimination of our business. Competitors may also be willing, at times, to take on more risk or price contracts lower than us in an effort to enter the market or increase market share. If we are not able to supply clients with services that they deem superior and successfully apply current business models with market level pricing while managing discounts, we may lose business to competitors and face downward pressure on gross margins and profitability. Any inability to compete effectively would materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our relationships with our third-party alliance partners, who supply us with technology, including platforms and software, are also critical to our ability to provide many of our services and solutions that address client demands or requirements. There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain such relationships or that such technology will be available on the expected timelines or for the anticipated prices. Among other things, such alliance partners may in the future decide to compete with us, form exclusive or more favorable arrangements with our competitors or otherwise reduce our access to their technology, thereby impairing our ability to provide the services and solutions dependent on such technology demanded or required by clients. In addition, some of our third-party alliance partners are also our clients or suppliers of technology for our internal operations. Any performance failure on the part of our alliance partners, or the discontinuance by such alliance partners of technology that we have relied on them to provide for our clients or ourselves, could delay or prevent our performance unless we engage alternative third parties to provide the equivalent technology at our cost or provide the equivalent technology ourselves, any of which could deprive us of potential revenue or adversely impact our profitability. In addition, our third-party alliance partners may also experience reduced demand for their technology, including as a result of changes in technology, which could reduce demand for our services and solutions.

Our competitiveness also depends on our ability to continue to develop and implement services and solutions that anticipate and respond to rapid and continuing changes in technology to serve the evolving needs of our clients. Examples include digital-, cloud- and security-related offerings, AI, augmented reality, automation, blockchain, IoT, quantum and edge computing, digital engineering and manufacturing and as-a-service solutions, among others, which are continually evolving. If we do not sufficiently invest in new technologies, successfully adapt to industry developments and changing demand, develop new tools and platforms that meet our clients' productivity expectations and evolve and expand our business at sufficient speed and scale to keep pace with the demands of the markets we serve, we may be unable to develop and maintain a competitive advantage and execute on our growth strategy, which would materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Some of these technological changes have reduced or replaced the demand for some of our historical services and solutions and will continue to do so in the future. In addition, our clients may delay spending under existing contracts and engagements or delay entering into new contracts while evaluating new technologies. Such reductions, replacements and delays can negatively impact our results of operations if we are unable to adapt our pricing or the pace and level of spending on new technologies is not sufficient to make up any shortfall. Further, as we expand into these areas, we may be exposed to operational, legal, regulatory, ethical, technological and other risks specific to such new areas, which may negatively affect our reputation and demand for our services and solutions.

Our use of AI technologies may not be successful and may present business, financial, legal and reputational risks.