Huge wealth of data talent in India, looking to attract it: Lingaro CEO

At a time when India's Global Capability Centre (GCC) market size is expected to reach $60 billion by 2025, tech firm Lingaro Group is eyeing a 30 per cent year-over-year revenue increase in India

At a time when India’s Global Capability Centre (GCC) ecosystem is projected to expand significantly, with over 1,900 GCCs and a market size of $60 billion by 2025, Lingaro Group, a data management services provider, is looking to scale up operations in the country, Sam Mantle, the group’s global chief executive officer, told Peerzada Abrar in a telephonic interview. Edited excerpts:

 

Where do you see India fitting into Lingaro’s global growth plans, and how does it compare to other regions? 

The company was founded in Poland and, for the first 10 years, it was a very Polish-centric organisation. It did very well there. But if you want to have bigger ambitions and want to be a global player, especially in the tech industry, India is always going to be an important long-term part of your geographic portfolio.

 

We picked five geographies that we believe are important for the depth of data talent. We now have India, the Philippines, and Mexico as three of our core strategic delivery locations. India is one of our five strategic locations. We have doubled our size in the past 12 months, and I believe we are going to double that again over the course of the next 12 months. We see a huge demand for the services that we are able to deliver from India. We are targeting a 30 per cent year-on-year revenue increase in India, which is ambitious post-pandemic but achievable.

 

What unique opportunities and challenges do you foresee as Lingaro scales its operations here?

  We have turned serious attention to developing our business in India as well as working with local clients, helping them build out their GCCs, and really being part of the data agenda, which most of our clients are seeing at the higher end of the tech ecosystem value chain.

 

The big client opportunity is around GCCs. A lot of our existing clients are accelerating those activities, and the data services they wish to provide to their end customer or end client are being prioritised as part of that ecosystem. From Lingaro’s perspective, we are also very focused on the data and analytics agenda. What differentiates us is our ability to bring a laser-focused data approach and significant domain expertise.

 

Another opportunity we see is for clients interested in working with us. We have a strong talent base in India, and at the same time, we're able to bring expertise from our international colleagues in Poland, Mexico, the US, and the Philippines. There is such a wealth of data talent in India, and we're looking to attract the best and the brightest at all levels of seniority.

 

By the end of 2024, we expect to double our talent base in India from 100 to 200. We then aspire to double it again in 2025 to about 400-500 people.

 

India now leads as the top destination for GCCs. Could you share insights about the overall strategy to tap the $60 billion revenue potential within India’s GCC sector? 

We recognise that many global enterprises have decided to build GCCs in India. So, the business is there. The question is how do we attract it to Lingaro.

 

Large companies in sectors such as fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and life sciences recognise the value of data assets. Their ability to maximise the value of those data assets is a core competency they need to build and retain within their firms. That’s where we help. We work alongside them to build, develop, and mature their data expertise.

 

The good news is that we have a lot of experience doing exactly this type of work with clients in other parts of the world over the past 17 years. We just need to get in front of these clients and demonstrate that we have the track record and reputation for delivering results.

 

We can engage not only with the technology leaders in our clients’ organisations but also with the business leaders making decisions about the supply chain, consumer spend, and better targeting the market with their products. Our domain expertise, combined with our technology expertise, sets us apart.

 

These are the messages we are taking to the senior levels of these clients to convince them that Lingaro is a long-term partner to help mature their data agenda within GCCs and beyond.

 

What role is Indian talent playing in building innovations and global strategy? 

It’s very exciting for talent joining Lingaro in India because they can truly influence the client base. They can have an impact on the client engagements we have with leading brands worldwide.

 

A key part of my strategy has been developing global leadership roles. Over the past 12 months, we’ve brought several talented leaders into the global leadership team of Lingaro. They’re not just leaders for the India market but also for global markets.

 

We are increasingly using their leadership skills in our consulting and advisory practices. Our clients are seeing the thought leadership, innovation, and genuinely new ideas we bring. Our India talent pool is a significant contributor to this today, and I believe this will only grow further in the future.

 

What impact do you see generative AI having on businesses? 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is pervasive at the moment, isn’t it? It’s a huge agenda item for us. We’ve invested heavily over the past 12 months in developing accelerators so our clients can rapidly develop use cases and adopt generative AI capabilities at scale across their organisations.

 

What mature clients realise is that the benefits of generative AI depend entirely on the quality of the data you feed it. That’s encouraging for us because it’s our sweet spot.

 

Helping clients navigate, orchestrate, understand, and interrogate their data through AI capabilities is our core strength. This is shaping our offerings and the value we can bring to clients.

 

We are also proactive in using AI internally to train our talent, prepare them for client engagements, and streamline the development and operation of many platforms we work with. AI is a leading agenda item in every executive leadership call I have, and our adoption of AI in external offerings and internal capabilities will continue to differentiate Lingaro in the market.