Prime Highlights
- Global firms are moving more core functions to India centres as AI improves efficiency and reduces outsourcing dependence.
- Companies are increasingly keeping strategic work in-house while using vendors for specialised or project-based support.
Key Facts
- Daimler Truck is a global commercial vehicle company focusing on trucks and transport solutions.
- AI tools are allowing companies to handle larger workloads without a proportional increase in hiring.
Background
Global companies are increasing the amount of work handled at their India cost centres as artificial intelligence helps teams improve productivity and reduce dependence on outsourcing partners. Industry leaders at a technology summit in Bengaluru said companies are changing the role of their India operations from cost-saving units to centres that manage core business functions.
Many multinational companies are now assigning key areas such as engineering, product development, analytics and software work to their India teams. AI tools are helping these centres complete more work without adding a large number of employees.
At Daimler Truck’s Bengaluru innovation centre, the company has started bringing development of critical software and high-performance algorithms in-house. The company said it wants stronger control over technology linked to vehicle performance and safety. It plans to keep long-term strategic work internally while using external partners only for project-based tasks.
Target, which has a large workforce in India, also continues to depend mainly on internal teams while using outside partners for flexibility.
Executives said AI has become a major factor behind this shift. IBM stated that automation allows the company to deliver more work with the same workforce size. Companies such as Novo Nordisk and Workday are also expanding the role of their India centres by giving them larger responsibilities in product development and global operations.
Leaders in the industry explained that outsourcing would continue; however, firms were increasingly using outside help for specialist skills rather than for retaining control of their internal affairs.