India marks a great day in history on 29th November 2023, organizing and launching the most trending three-day global event- Bengaluru Tech Summit 2023, at the Bangalore Palace. Organized by the Department of Electronics, IT, Bt, Government of Karnataka and Software Technology Parks of India, Bengaluru, with the theme “Breaking Boundaries”, as this summit walked into its 26th edition this year, there many dignitaries graced it with their presence. 

At first, as the summit witnessed the auspicious presence of Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri Siddaramaiah for the inauguration, along with Shri D.K. Shivakumar, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, aligned in co-ordination with the theme 'Breaking Boundaries,' several significant guest of honours set up the stage on fire. This huge tech event became an abode for deep discussion amongst the acknowledgeable global and international tech leaders, startups, investors, and research labs from over 30 countries.

While the list also included impressive figureheads such as Shri Priyank Kharge, Hon'ble Minister for Information Technology & Biotechnology and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, Govt. of Karnataka, Shri M B Patil, Hon’ble Minister for Large & Medium Industries, Govt. of Karnataka; Shri N S Boseraju, Hon’ble Minister of Science & Technology, Minor Irrigation, Govt. of Karnataka; and a distinguished gathering of dignitaries including Smt. Vandita Sharma, IAS, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka; Dr. Ekroop Caur, IAS, Secretary to Government, Dept. of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T, Govt. of Karnataka; Shri Shailendra Tyagi, Director, STPI- Bengaluru; and Shri Darshan H.V., IAS, Managing Director – K, the long distinguished list included international dignitaries too. 

Positively as Bengaluru, the Silicon Valley of India, the IT hub from state of Karnataka steps up into the world of tech evolution, transitioning from a BPO hub to an R&D and innovation epicentre, with the theme 'Breaking Boundaries,' our aim remains to inspire global tech communities, fostering innovation and collaboration consistently ahead. 

Amidst the long day planned for an effective discussion on the various topics such as ITE & Deeptech, Biotech, Startup, and more, we, the silconindia team specifically wish to bring to light the extensive coverage on the GCC Sessions (ITE & Deeptech Track) defined for the day, moderately speaking on GCC Transformations and Unlocking the Opportunities. 

Well, not be missed, as the session didn’t have anything light for discussion respective of technology piece for the summit, instead really huge as evident, the Keynote delivery was impressive delivered by the reverent Sindhu Gangadharan, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, SAP Labs India. Sindhu quotes, “India is evolving as the GCC destination for the world across all sectors. As per the real statistics, the change that's happened over the years, across the ecosystem is really intriguing with the whole chapter of GCC 4.0. Also, what is propelling this kind of transformation is phenomenal, given the talent, workforce, and technology, be it AI or ML, or the latest influx of generative AI. The game has pragmatically advanced today with the potential talents tapping onto the new age skills like IoT or Quantum or Blockchain. Accomplishing the unattainable, by driving cutting edge innovation, customer-centricity, collaboration, and thought leadership, not just within the organization internally, but also within the ecosystem, we have grown remarkably since FY2015 to become a 1580+ GCC country.

With about 1.66 million talented workforce, we have become a robust market size of over 46 billion which the Indian GCCs are driving forward. It is very interesting to note that 30% of the Indian GCCs are based right here in Bengaluru. In my role as the Vice Chair of NASSCOM or the GCC council at NASSCOM, I witness this transformation happening extensively”.

Additionally, Guru Mallikarjan, Senior Vice President of Powertrain Systems and Director of Business Solutions of Bosch Global Software Technologies also enlightened minds. He says, “Well, the theme “Breaking Boundaries” may signify many transformations to happen in coming times, but what I believe is we have already broken boundaries, whether it is our ability to challenge the infrastructure, the ability to plan for ourselves, adopt new technologies and learn new things. Specially the value stream that goes across different functions, reflects better by emphasizing organizational efficiency and this come by leading the topics for the global organisations. We can bring regional insights, regional intelligence to drive the market, to own the market and show our innovations, not just globally innovated but through local and hyper local innovations. Our organizational strategy needs to be well aligned with the global strategy. Conclusively, I think it is most important for us to be ready and then be ready to develop our leadership to go from local to global”.  

Following the keynote deliveries, the panel discussion held the most value & insights where the Panel Moderator- Bhaskar Verma, Regional Head, Karnataka, NASSCOM, conversed with the technical dignitaries  Patrick Peisker, President R&D , International Development Labs, Mitel; Kaushik Das, Vice President & Managing Director, JCPenney, and Aparna Rao, Country Head and Board Member, Cargill Business Services.

Beginning the discussion Bhaskar says, “We are living in the techade now. The term first coined by our Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi with reference to the digital transformation and technology evolution in India and globally has a great significance”. While the panellists acknowledged and critically threw light on the Indian GCCs value delineating specific region wise insights, cultural mindset and high adaptability to different cultures that persists globally because ultimately it’s the technology, process, talent altogether that really keep the growth happening and going forth”.