From Gurgaon to Bengaluru, AHEAD’s India Map Is Following Talent
By Sanjana Gupta ·
India’s rise as an AI talent hub is reshaping where global technology firms place their bets. With over 250,000 AI and machine learning professionals and nearly 28% of the global GCC AI talent pool, companies are increasingly choosing Indian cities for specialised expertise.
This boom may be spreading across newer cities, but Bengaluru and Hyderabad continue to dominate the conversation. Two-thirds of new GCCs set up in India over the past two years chose tier-1 cities, even as companies increasingly pick locations based on specialised talent rather than scale alone.
For the Chicago-headquartered IT company AHEAD, its journey in India started in Gurgaon and expanded to Hyderabad and Bengaluru for infrastructure and AI engineering.
AHEAD opened offices in Gurgaon in 2023 and Hyderabad in 2024. Globally, AHEAD employs about 3,500 people, with India accounting for nearly 20% of its workforce. Nearly 100 of them are already based in Bengaluru, a number the company expects to grow.
Speaking during a media roundtable after the Bengaluru unit launch this week, AHEAD executives said the city has become a go-to destination for expanding its portfolio in cloud, AI, cybersecurity, and platform engineering. It indicates how the IT company wishes to scale its India operations, from delivery support to AI engineering, infrastructure services and future bets on physical AI.
The Bengaluru launch follows a different logic from AHEAD’s earlier India entries. Gurgaon, the company said, was an entry point shaped by leadership. Hyderabad came later to tap specialised talent for its business partner ServiceNow.
Bengaluru Runs on Infrastructure Talent
For Bengaluru, the equation changed again. AHEAD said the city’s strength lies in infrastructure and engineering talent, especially as the firm expands partnerships around AI and enterprise technology.
Keith Odom, EVP for Services & Consulting at AHEAD, explained that to find AI infrastructure talent like those at Broadcom and Dell, it made sense to come to Bengaluru. The company has also grown its partnership with Broadcom after the chipmaker moved away from services.
AHEAD now handles much of Broadcom’s delivery and migration work. That partnership has also influenced hiring in Bengaluru. “We have probably 100 and something requisitions already open. We continue to grow,” Marwaha said.
The company said India is no longer viewed internally as a low-cost delivery location. Instead, it positions India as a centre of excellence where consulting, engineering and execution increasingly converge.
Odom expressed that employees in India work across consulting, architecture, AI, cybersecurity, managed services and product engineering. India teams also contribute to internal AI strategy and customer-facing engagements.
“Every role that we have in the US, we have here,” he said, adding that thinking has also shaped AHEAD’s AI push. The company has hired senior AI consultants like those from McKinsey in India and increasingly uses Indian teams for high-end consulting work with Fortune 500 customers.
The IT company’s push into AI infrastructure also reflects a financial bet on where enterprise spending is headed. It recently expanded its Illinois-based foundry facilities to support liquid cooling and high-density AI systems.
According to Mark Killian, CFO at AHEAD, the investment is tied to changing customer demand rather than speculative expansion. “This investment is really to allow us to enable the service to the client on the product side in a different way, and in a more strategic way,” Killian said in response to AIM’s question.
He added that such infrastructure spending has also helped the company differentiate itself. Killian said AHEAD has approached infrastructure investments cautiously, given the costs of AI systems and cooling technologies. “The CapEx components are relative to our size; they’re not significant, so we still are building that gradually,” he said.
AI Hardware Is the Next Big Bet
The company works closely with NVIDIA and builds AI systems for clients, particularly in financial services. AHEAD’s business model stretches beyond consulting. It designs, assembles and deploys infrastructure for customers through its foundry business.
“We build the super pods in our foundry business. So we take all the gear, 200 GPUs, 200 Dell servers, a bunch of Cisco network, a bunch of storage from whoever,” Odom said.
When asked about GPU shortages in the country, the executives acknowledged they remain a challenge, especially in markets such as India. However, they said they are closely monitoring India’s semiconductor ambitions and foundry growth, with a hint at Tata Electronics’ Dholera plant.
Even as companies rush to deploy generative AI, AHEAD believes the next wave may move beyond software, into physical AI. Executives pointed to robotics, digital twins and warehouse automation as areas where enterprise technology is already changing.
Odom confirmed that the company is actively researching robotics and quantum computing. He also expressed interest in partnering with startups and academic institutions across India to develop such niche deep technologies.
“We are really looking forward to what alternatives they come up with. Once there is some progress there, we might end up partnering with a few,” he said.
The company has also already introduced automation into its US-based foundry facilities. Building upon a digital twin of its manufacturing area, it uses AI-enabled cameras to track hardware, verify inventory and automate logistics.
“We are also trying to bring some more foundry business to India,” Marwaha added.