By Martin Shwenk Leade
Copyright indiatimes
Manoj Nagpal, Managing Director, OpenText India
OpenText is placing a large bet on India for its global innovation strategy. The enterprise software leader has over two-thirds of its 9,000 engineers in India and is focusing on AI, cybersecurity, and information governance, making India a hub for product innovation, not just delivery. During an interview with The Economic Times Digital, Manoj Nagpal, OpenText India’s Managing Director, explained how his company supports Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in their shift from back-office efficiency to strategic innovation leadership. Edited excerpts:The Economic Times (ET): OpenText supports several global capability centres (GCCs) in India. What gaps are you helping them bridge as they move from back-office support to strategic innovation hubs?Manoj Nagpal (MN): Global Capability Centers in India are evolving rapidly, but this transition requires the right foundation in technology, governance, and talent. OpenText plays a critical role in enabling this shift. Globally we work with more than 120,000 organizations, and in India, we partner with GCCs across banking, healthcare, manufacturing, and technology.A key challenge that we identified for GCCs here in India is moving beyond efficiency to driving innovation. Our team helps them achieve this through AI-powered automation, cybersecurity resilience, and advanced information governance solutions. For example, Our Aviator AI platform, developed significantly in India, demonstrates how repetitive processes can be automated so teams can focus on product ownership and innovation.In addition, our privacy by design frameworks keeps GCCs audit ready across jurisdictions, containerized deployments ensure resilient operations even in tier 2 cities, and unified workflows connect global teams seamlessly. Together these capabilities give GCCs the foundation to move from execution to true leadership in strategic mandates.Live EventsET: What differentiates the India GCC ecosystem today compared to five years ago?MN: Five years ago, most GCCs in India were cost centres focused on transactional work. Today, the ecosystem has matured into one of the most dynamic innovation engines worldwide. India now hosts more than 1,800 GCCs contributing $64.6 billionin revenue, with projections to cross 100 billion dollars by 2030. What truly differentiates today’s GCCs is the kind of work they handle — from AI-driven product development and cybersecurity to advanced data governance and global R&D.Equally important is the transformation of the talent pool. Instead of hiring predominantly for IT support roles, GCCs now attract specialists in AI, machine learning, data analytics, cybersecurity, and domain-specific expertise. This has created a culture where GCCs are not just executing tasks but are architecting global solutions. OpenText has aligned with this shift by investing in India-based Centres of Excellence and innovation hubs, ensuring our teams contribute directly to global strategy.ET: How is OpenText India changing that perception by moving from scale to steering innovation?MN: At OpenText we see India as the center of gravity for our global innovation strategy. It is no longer only about scale. It is about leadership. Out of our 9,000 engineers worldwide, over 6,000 are based in India. That represents nearly two-thirds of our global engineering strength. Soon close to 70 percent of our research and development will be driven from here.Our India teams take responsibility for the full product lifecycle. This includes architecture, design, deployment, and global delivery. Platforms such as Aviator AI, which were significantly developed in India, reflect this shift. Our investments in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, including a 70,000 square foot facility that can accommodate 700 employees, show our long-term commitment. India is not only contributing to global growth; it is steering the innovation roadmap for OpenText worldwide.ET: Can you share examples where the India team has taken end-to-end ownership of a product or feature that went global?MN: A prime example is OpenText Aviator, our suite of enterprise AI platforms. Several Aviator solutions were conceptualized, designed, and delivered end-to-end from India. Teams here took full ownership of AI-powered innovations in our Content, IT Operations, and Cybersecurity Aviator products. These features are now actively deployed and used by millions of enterprise users globally.Beyond Aviator, our India teams deliver innovations across Business Clouds, containerized deployments, and DevOps solutions. Whether it is managing compliance frameworks, scaling cloud-native products, or embedding AI-driven automation, India has repeatedly proven it can architect global solutions rather than simply support them.ET: How does OpenText India fit into the company’s global technology strategy ?MN: India is central to OpenText’s global technology roadmap. Our teams here contribute across every major business cloud, working on product development, AI innovation, cybersecurity, and digital transformation solutions. With operations spanning Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, and New Delhi, OpenText India has become the nerve center where global strategies are translated into enterprise-ready solutions.What makes India integral is not just scale but the breadth of ownership. Teams here are defining product architectures, shaping AI strategy through the Aviator platform, and delivering solutions that impact more than 120,000 enterprises worldwide. India provides the diversity of talent, regulatory alignment, and innovation culture that allows us to serve customers across 180 countries with speed and precision.ET: What proportion of OpenText’s R&D or product innovation is now being driven out of India?MN: India is becoming synonymous with OpenText R&D. development will soon be based here, representing the majority of our innovation pipeline. In FY25, we invested 756 million dollars in R&D globally, with India accounting for a substantial portion. OpenText has 3500 patents to its credit with 380 of them being AI-related.Our teams are responsible for the complete lifecycle of dozens of products, from design and development to testing and deployment. This end-to-end ownership is what sets us apart from traditional offshore models. India is not a back office for engineering; it is our primary hub for global product innovation with the ability to deliver at scale and speed.ET: How is OpenText India aligning with AI adoption and data sovereignty while ensuring global impact?MN: Enterprises in India are under increasing pressure to adopt AI while meeting local data sovereignty requirements. OpenText has addressed this through a dual strategy of sovereign cloud and sovereign AI. With our Mumbai data center and sovereign AI solutions, we enable data to remain within Indian borders, while enterprises still gain access to enterprise grade AI capabilities.Through platforms such as opentext.ai and Aviator, we provide AI innovation that enhances productivity and governance while remaining compliant with frameworks such as India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act. This approach allows GCCs to operate globally while maintaining local compliance, creating a model that balances innovation with sovereignty.ET: What role does OpenText play in enabling customers to balance compliance with innovation?MN: Balancing regulatory compliance with the need to innovate is one of the defining challenges for GCCs today. OpenText supports this balance with robust privacy and governance frameworks that are built into our products. Our private cloud solutions offer single tenant environments with customer-controlled encryption keys, ensuring data stays within designated jurisdictions.We also provide a comprehensive compliance toolkit including ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, DPDP, and other globally recognized standards. In addition, our Continuity and Compliance Suite offer built-in privacy impact assessments, retention policies, and audit-ready certifications. This enables customers to embrace AI, automation, and cloud technologies without sacrificing compliance, particularly in highly regulated industries such as healthcare, banking, and government.ET: How are you building the right talent pool in India to lead global product innovation?MN: Talent is the true differentiator. At OpenText, we follow a multi-layered approach.This includes skills-first hiring and STAR assessment model ensures faster, competency-based selection. Each year, we bring in over 200 interns, with conversion rates as high as 40%. We also invest in upskilling through certifications, hackathons, leadership programs, and partnerships with IIIT Hyderabad for AI research and ISB for executive development.Engineers in India get to work on global product portfolios end-to-end, not just fragments of projects, which makes their roles more meaningful. This mix of pipeline, skilling, and ownership ensures India is not only producing talent at scale but also grooming the next generation of global product leaders.ET: What is the long -term vision for the expanded Bengaluru facility and India’s leadership role?MN: The expanded Bengaluru facility represents the next phase of OpenText’s journey in India. It is designed to foster collaboration across our engineering, AI, and cybersecurity teams and to create an environment where innovation can scale rapidly.Our long-term vision is to position Bengaluru as a model for how technology hubs in India can drive global impact not only by developing new products but also by shaping future-ready skills, strengthening partnerships with academia, and incubating next-generation ideas.By anchoring more of our global R&D strategy here, we are ensuring that India is not just a participant but a leader in defining the future of enterprise technology for OpenText and for our customers worldwide.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
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