Cognizant has agreed to acquire IT services provider Astreya for about $600 million, marking another major move in the race to build AI infrastructure capabilities.

Reuters reported that Astreya specializes in AI infrastructure and data center services, making the deal strategically important as enterprise customers sharply increase spending on artificial intelligence systems.

The acquisition highlights a major trend in 2026: traditional IT services firms are shifting aggressively toward AI infrastructure, cloud operations, and advanced enterprise deployment rather than conventional outsourcing models.

For Middle Eastern businesses, the trend is highly relevant as Gulf governments continue building hyperscale data centers, sovereign cloud platforms, and enterprise AI ecosystems.

From a business perspective, M&A activity in AI infrastructure is accelerating because demand for implementation services often grows faster than software adoption itself.

Looking ahead, analysts expect more mid-sized acquisitions across cloud engineering, cybersecurity, and AI deployment as global firms compete for strategic technical capabilities.

Source : Reuters.