Capgemini India to play a greater role in the firm's global operations
Global management consultancy Capgemini has announced a new strategic focus for its Indian and global markets. With a focus on exponentially developing and expanding its pool of talent across its India operations, the firm is looking to fuel its operations across the globe with the same expertise.
The strategy was revealed by CEO of the firm Ashwin Yardi, who took over at the helm of the firm from now Chairman Srinivas Kandula in December last year. Yardi is building on the strategy that Capgemini has been employing in recent years – to capitalise on the rapidly growing digital talent in India.
Given a high level of familiarity with Industry 4.0 applications, a rapidly growing economy and a relatively young population, India is expected by many to become a hub for technology startups in the near future. A number of firms have been looking to capitalise on this situation.
In 2016, Capgemini announced that it would invest heavily in supporting startups emerging across the Indian market, particularly those operating in the domains of artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and data analytics, among others. The idea was to connect these firms to an international investment network.
Last year, the firm announced plans to spend as much as $500 million on acquiring digital firms across the globe, with a heavy focus on India. Now, the firm is looking to continue bridging this gap between the high-potential Indian market and the rapidly digitalising global environment.
As a result, the first prong of the strategy is to develop a strong pool of expertise amongst its senior ranks in India, who are expected to inculcate a startup and entrepreneurial spirit amongst as many as 100,000 people in India. To this end, the firm has made a number of changes, including the appointment of Nisheeth Srivastava as the Chief Technology and Innovation Officer.
Other changes include the promotion of Aruna Jayanti and Srinivas Kandula to roles that are more in contact with Capgemini’s global network. Jayanti, who previously headed operations for India, is now the leader for Latin America and the Asia Pacific, and will even join Capgemini’s global HR initiatives.
Explaining the shift of Capgemini India’s role in the new scenario, Yardi said, “rom being a much large scale delivery centre now group expects us to drive far more innovation out of India. Global CEO of Deloitte Punit Renjen also announced a similar shift in profile for the Indian market, set to take on a much larger global role.
