In an interview with PTI, Gangadharan said in a world of tariff change, intelligent systems that allow for rapid maneuvering, adapting and pivoting of businesses will be important.
“Whether it's business process management or service or product areas, the topic of the forefront and center of investment is AI. There's no doubt about it,” she said.
Asked if the $300 billion target for FY26 in the IT industry in India is on track (given the uncertainty of trade and tariffs), Gangadharan, who also hells Nasscom, said “Yes for now.”
SAP Labs has opened its second campus in Bengaluru and the world's largest 41 acre campus. The planned capacity of the new centre is 15,000 experts.
Gangadharan argued that India is a global innovation hub for German software manufacturers.
“Around 40% of our global R&D resources are here, and we sit from India to build global innovation. What's even more exciting for us is that all of our product portfolio is in one place. Therefore, India has grown into SAP's strategic innovation hub. The centrality we have, the ecosystem surrounding us,” she said.
Gangadharan pointed out that advances in AI are “game change” and that AI-driven productivity gains are mapped to customer outcomes.
“As what SAP and we are building for the world, when we say today that 87% of the world's business transactions touch the SAP system, we know the size of the type of use cases we are helping our customers.
SAP's investment in Bengaluru's new campus and planning capabilities for 15,000 professionals are tied to this approach to strategic innovation, she noted.
“This also goes back to why we continue to seek the right people to help our customers build the portfolios and strategic use cases they need, and at the same time, if you are considering providing very specific services with AI, of course, there are a lot of productivity.
Gangadharan believes that part of the shifts made in the industry are “a strategic restructuring of the core portfolio.”
“… Healthy kind of reorganization is always good… Whether it's business process management, services, or product areas, the topic of the forefront and center of investment is AI. There's no doubt,” she said.
As to whether AI could potentially lead to a mass of layoffs in the tech industry, she pointed out that artificial intelligence has brought about a lot of automation.
“…When you're considering writing code, if you say 30% of your code can already be generated, is that correct? It's something (in IT) that (it) might look at reskills, reimaginings, relearning, as if it (so) takes over other roles in the organization.
Industry Associations are also investing considerable time and effort to help the sector build future skills.
“To build that bridge between industry, academia and government, we will really make sure that young talent has the right mindset, the right skills and be able to take on those roles.
