India a key talent pool for digital consultancy Publicis Sapient

India is a crucial market for global digital transformation consultancy Publicis Sapient, although the firm perceives India more as a source of talent than a hub for clients. In an interview with Livemint, Publicis Sapient CEO Nigel Vaz outlines India’s position in the firm’s global outlook.

Publicis Sapient is a Boston-based consultancy that offers end-to-end support with digital transformations, dealing with clients across the globe. The firm’s global team of 20,000 experts leverage digital expertise to provide advice on everything from strategy to customer experience.

The firm has identified India as a promising market for talent in particular, given the country’s up and coming digital infrastructure and large wave of fresh and high educated graduates. 

“India partners with our businesses in Asia Pacific, North America and Europe. So it's always been very core to our strategy. We have a talent base here for strategy, consultancy, design and experience. A lot of data and AI-related core work is also based in India. So we have the full range of capabilities here.”

“To get new talent, we have always partnered with the IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) and IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management) and lots of other schools like NIITs and some design institutes. India is by far the single largest talent market for us,” explains Vaz.

The focus on India as a key digital market is not unique to Publicis Sapient, with several firms in the digital advisory space including the likes of Accenture, Atos, Capgemini and Cognizant upping their focus on our country. Publicis Sapient's focus on talent is also reflective of broader recruitment trends, with many looking to source large digital talent pools from top educational institutions in India.

According to Vaz, the talent on offer in India is more central to Publicis Sapient’s cause than the clientele. “We have had clients in India very specific industries and very specific contexts. But they are usually part of larger global companies in India as opposed to India as a market itself,” he said.

“Our primary focus has always been serving clients in the markets that we operate in as client markets and India was set up to be a talent market. The economics of running a business serving the Indian market would require us to adopt very different strategies from a pricing perspective,” he added.

Other firms taking a talent-intensive approach in India feature the Big Four accounting and advisory firms. Deloitte’s global chairman has recently emphasised that the Indian market is critical for the firm’s progress across the world, and the firm has recently doubled its headcount from 40,000 people to 80,000 in its Hyderabad innovation centre.

Earlier this month, Publicis Sapient acquired Australian consulting firm Third Horizon.