Synopsis
The Germany-based company said it already serves 260 global capability centres (GCCs) in India, counting companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Hitachi Energy and AstraZeneca as its clients, and sees a larger opportunity ahead as enterprises try to connect AI systems with operational data spread across departments and software systems.Listen to this article in summarized format
The Germany-based company said it already serves 260 global capability centres (GCCs) in India, counting companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Hitachi Energy and AstraZeneca as its clients, and sees a larger opportunity ahead as enterprises try to connect AI systems with operational data spread across departments and software systems.
Celonis provides software that combines operational data from multiple enterprise systems into what executives described as a “context layer” for AI systems and software agents.
“We already have 260 GCCs we are serving here in India,” Malhar Kamdar, chief growth officer at Celonis, told ET. “The good news is that’s a huge number and makes India one of the largest users of Celonis in the world, and there’s another 1,800 GCCs to go after.”
Among its focus areas are GCCs, as well as Indian enterprises in manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and banking, working with service providers such as Tata Consultancy Services, Capgemini, EY, among others. The company started go-to-market operations around nine months ago.
“Indian customers are getting more mature and trying to not just look at efficiency, but rather at large-scale transformation,” Dilip Khandelwal, chief customer officer and chairman of the India advisory board at Celonis, said.
The company, however, did not disclose its India revenues or the size of its market.
The process intelligence provider is also expanding its India operations. Khandelwal said Celonis’ Bengaluru office now has nearly 300 employees, up over 150% from last year. He, however, highlighted that hiring targets have become harder to define because AI tools are changing the nature of software work.
Celonis is positioning itself between enterprise software systems and AI applications by providing operational data that AI systems can use, as enterprises understand that AI systems alone cannot understand how companies function internally.
“AI has blind spots,” Kamdar said. Every company, regardless of the industry it operates in, needs an intelligence layer to enable both its people and AI agents to understand the reality of the business and make the right decisions,” he said.
Kamdar highlighted that manufacturing and automotive companies typically use the technology for supply chain operations, inventory management and logistics, while banks use it for compliance, KYC and credit processing.
To help add forecasting and planning capabilities to their platform, the company acquired Ikigai Labs, a US-based decision intelligence startup, earlier in this month.
“Celonis gives you the information in real time and provides a digital twin for an enterprise’s process. But Ikigai completes it after you have got this information— the what-if scenarios, the planning, the forecasting,” Khandelwal said.
