SAP Labs India looks to double its productivity gains from GenAI

SAP Labs India is looking to double its customers' productivity gains from using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) by the end of this year, as the research arm of the German software company applies the technology across the value chain of its clients.

 

"Currently the productivity gain is about 20 per cent and our target by the end of the year is to take it to 40 per cent," Sindhu Gangadharan, managing director of SAP Labs India, told Business Standard at the sidelines of Nasscom Technology Leadership Forum 2025.

 

While SAP Labs has managed to take the productivity gains to its clients to 20 per cent and is confident to double it, many within the industry also agreed that the adoption of GenAI is still at a very low percentage.

 

80 per cent Indian developers see productivity benefits in Gen AI, but only 39 per cent use it proficiently and more than 90 per cent of enterprise clients need proof of RoI, according to a report by Boston Consulting Report (BCG), published earlier this week.

 

Gangadharan, who is also the chairperson of IT industry body Nasscom, said the onus is on the companies to make clients understand the benefits. "Yes the adoption is not fast enough but now is the time for execution. The conversation has shifted to 'show it to me' from 'should I.' That distinct change is evident and people at the intersection need to explain the benefits."

 

Gangadharan does not believe that Gen AI will replace humans. "Those who use AI will replace those who don't. The technology will act as a bridge, a force for good, and an enabler. What we need is large-scale upskilling," she added.

 

Nasscom's data show that India will create 2.7 million new and reskilled AI jobs by 2028. That will need a number of data scientists who will have to work with trusted data, ethically manage data sets, train and retrain algorithms and keep them in check. Other roles coming up are prompt engineers, AI developers, AI application developers and cybersecurity professionals. "These are now a combination of cloud and AI and not the biggest of roles we hired for in the past."

 

But that also needs a closer collaboration between industry and academia to build what Gangadharan terms as "IP (intellectual property) muscle." For SAP Labs, 40 per cent of its global R&D workforce is based out of India while 25 per cent of the global patents are filed from here.  It works with professors to help employees write technical papers or make entries in science journals.  

 

"IP creation and GCCs should be the strong focus areas besides strengthening talent. If you have to reap the talent, you will have to go to the universities and schools. We need not just technology skills but critical thinking skills and creatively solving problems."