Capgemini's Strategic Bet on India as Global Powerhouse
French multinational IT services and consulting firm Capgemini is placing a significant strategic bet on its India operations to fuel its global growth trajectory. The company has established India as its largest talent hub, with a staggering 2.3 lakh employees based in the country. This represents approximately 55% of Capgemini's total global workforce of 4.2 lakh professionals, solidifying India's position as the company's primary growth engine.
India's Dominance in Global IT Workforce
Among multinational IT firms operating in India, Capgemini now holds the second-largest employee base, trailing only behind Accenture, which employs approximately 3.5 lakh people in India out of its global workforce of 7.7 lakh. This positioning highlights the critical importance of the Indian market for global technology service providers.
The expansion of Capgemini's India operations has been remarkable over the past eight years. During this period, the company more than doubled its India headcount, crossing the significant milestone of 2 lakh employees. Under the leadership of Ashwin Yardi, who served as Capgemini India CEO before becoming non-executive chairman of the Board in India, the firm dramatically expanded its workforce from 105,500 to nearly 180,000 employees.
Strategic Acquisition and Financial Performance
Capgemini's strategic $3.3 billion acquisition of WNS last year significantly bolstered its India presence. This move added not only valuable clients but also substantial scale, with over 44,000 of WNS's 65,000 employees based in India. This acquisition contributed to reaching the current total of approximately 2.3 lakh employees in the country.
According to the Capgemini Technology Services India report for FY2024-25, the company demonstrated solid financial performance with revenue and other income reaching Rs 30,090 crore. This represents growth of 4.7% compared to the previous year's figure of Rs 28,727 crore. Profitability also showed positive momentum, with profit standing at Rs 3,709 crore, up from Rs 3,239 crore a year earlier.
India's Evolving Role in Global IT Strategy
Phil Fersht, CEO of HfS Research, emphasized how Capgemini's substantial India footprint illustrates the country's central role in multinational IT firms' global operating models. "This is no longer just about cost arbitrage," Fersht noted. "India is now the primary delivery engine for digital, engineering, cloud, and increasingly AI-led work. Having over half of its global workforce in India gives Capgemini scale, talent depth, and flexibility that are hard to replicate elsewhere."
In an interview last year, Capgemini CEO Aiman Ezzat reinforced India's integral position in the company's operations, spanning innovation, product development, and industry expertise. Ezzat highlighted that India continues to grow in importance across all these dimensions.
Talent Strategy and AI Implementation
Regarding hiring plans, Ezzat revealed that Capgemini planned to add over 45,000 people in the last financial year, with approximately 40% being fresh graduates. "Despite productivity gains from automation, we see a growing demand for technology continues to require more talent," he explained.
When questioned about the real impact of artificial intelligence, Ezzat acknowledged that benefits are visible but largely confined to specific projects rather than implemented at scale. "You might see 30% productivity gains in a small team, but replicating that across the enterprise takes time because each use case requires validation, testing, and approval," he noted.
On the pace of AI adoption, Ezzat expects it to be incremental as AI touches every function and business process. However, he identified areas such as customer service and marketing as witnessing faster uptake since they require fewer structural changes.
Strategic Considerations for the Future
Phil Fersht raised important strategic questions regarding the concentration of operations in India. "Firms with such heavy India exposure need to continuously move up the value chain to protect margins, manage talent churn, and reduce overdependence on effort-based delivery," he cautioned.
Fersht emphasized that the most successful companies will leverage India not merely for volume but as a platform for higher-value transformation, engineering, and AI execution. This strategic evolution will be crucial for maintaining competitive advantage in the rapidly changing global technology landscape.
The substantial growth of Capgemini's India operations reflects broader trends in the global IT services industry, where India has transitioned from a cost-advantage destination to a strategic center for innovation, digital transformation, and high-value technology delivery.
