AI at forefront of investment talks be it business process management or product: SAP Labs India MD

New Delhi, Aug 6 (PTI) Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now at the forefront of investment talks, be it business process management or product arena, according to Sindhu Gangadharan managing director of SAP Labs India and chairperson of apex IT industry body Nasscom.

In an interview with PTI, Gangadharan said that in a world of tariff changes, intelligent systems that allow for quick manoeuvring, adapting and pivoting of business will be the key.

"Whether it's in the business process management or services or product area, the front and centre topic of investments is AI. There is no question," she said.

Asked if the Indian IT industry's USD 300 billion target for FY26 is on track (given the trade and tariff uncertainties), Gangadharan, who also helms Nasscom, said, "As of now, yes".

SAP Labs has opened a new 41-acre campus in Devanahalli, its second one in Bengaluru and among its largest globally, with a total investment of 194 million euros spread across various phases. The planned capacity for the new centre is 15,000 professionals.

Gangadharan asserted that India is a global innovation hub for the German software maker.

"About 40 per cent of our global R&D resources are here, sitting out of India, building innovations for the world. What is even more exciting for us is we have the entire breadth of our product portfolio in one location. So India has really grown into being the strategic innovation hub for SAP, and this campus, SAP Labs India Innovation Park, is an absolute testimony to the strategic relevance that we place on India, and the strategic relevance of the location, talent, customer centricity that we have, the ecosystem that surrounds us," she said.

Gangadharan noted that AI advances are "changing the game", and that AI-led productivity gains are being mapped back to customer outcomes.

"As SAP and what we are building for the world, today when we say 87 per cent of the world's business transactions touch an SAP system, you know the magnitude of the kind of use cases that we are helping our customers with. Or today if I say 8 out of the 10 cars on Indian roads are manufactured by SAP's customers, that also gives you an idea about the scale and the kind of critical business processes that we help our customers with," she said.

SAP's investments for a new campus in Bengaluru and its planned capacity for 15,000 professionals, ties in to this approach of strategic innovation, she pointed out.

"This is also going back to why we continue to seek that right talent that helps us build that kind of portfolio and strategic use cases that our customers need. At the same time, if you're looking at offering very specific services to customers, of course with AI, there is a lot that is automated, there's a lot more productivity gains, and it's only natural that customers ask for what does it mean for them," she explained.

Gangadharan believes that some of the shifts playing out in the industry are "strategic realignments to the core portfolio." "...a healthy kind of realignment is always good because...whether it's in the business process management or services or product area, the front and centre topic of investment is AI. There is no question," she said.

On whether spate of layoffs could be expected in the tech industry on account of AI, she noted that Artificial Intelligence has brought in a lot of automation.

"...when you're looking at writing code, if you're saying 30 per cent of the code can already be generated, right? That is something (for) which a role that was covering (it) that might look at reskilling, reimagining, relearning so that they take-on other roles in the organisation. That is something that we continue to see as Nasscom," she said.

The industry association is also investing significant time and effort into helping the sector build future skills.

"How do we build that bridge between industry, academia, the government, to really make sure that the young talent comes out with right mindset, right skills so that they can take on those roles. That is definitely something that we put an absolute emphasis on as tech industry," Gangadharan said. PTI MBI MBI MR MR