SAP is turning its India operations into a main center for its artificial intelligence work. The German software company now has more than 18,000 employees in the country, according to a feature SAP published on November 2, 2026.
India is SAP’s second largest location after its home base. The company plans to use it to build what it calls the Autonomous Enterprise.
From Back Office to Innovation Hub
SAP opened its first office in Bengaluru in 1998. At the time, the site mainly supported the company’s headquarters in Walldorf, Germany.
The company now operates in two connected ways in India. SAP India, led by Manish Prasad, is a regional business serving India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. SAP Labs India, led by Sindhu Gangadharan, handles product development for SAP tools used around the world.
SAP Labs India has locations in Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Gurugram, Mumbai, and Pune.
In August 2025, SAP opened the SAP Labs India Innovation Park in Bengaluru. The €194 million site is SAP’s largest research and development hub outside Germany. It has room for 15,000 more employees.
Teams in India have a history of building local tools that later go global. Work on India’s complex tax reporting rules led to SAP Document and Reporting Compliance, which now serves customers in more than 50 countries.
India’s Role in SAP’s AI Push
Two key AI leaders work out of SAP Labs India. Sudhakar Singh leads the AI Security office. Rahul Lodhe is global head of engineering for Joule and head of SAP Business AI.
Indian teams built Joule, SAP’s AI assistant. Joule uses SAP business data and works across SAP and non-SAP systems through a chat-style interface.
Joule started as a copilot. It now manages background AI tasks and Joule Agents.
One of those agents is the Data Product Creation Agent. It helps SAP Business Data Cloud users deal with a shortage of quality data products, which can slow down AI projects.
The tool went from proof of concept to product in a few months. Development manager Leena Kharti said her team learned to move to other work when they hit a blocker. “In AI, speed is a feature, and that mindset made all the difference,” she said.
SAP is also working with India’s startup scene, which is the third largest in the world. In June 2026, SAP Labs India launched the SAP Startup Studio program in Bengaluru.
The six-month program lets selected startups build enterprise tools with SAP teams. This year’s group includes ANSCER Robotics, Pulse Energy, and QNu Labs. Their work covers enterprise AI, robotics, industrial data, and quantum-safe technology.
India produced more than 2.5 million STEM graduates in 2026, according to SAP.
SAP CEO Christian Klein said, “India has all the ingredients required to win in AI.” He pointed to strong technical talent and universities, heavy investment in AI infrastructure, and a pro-business climate focused on attracting investment.
