TCS announces creation of Global AI Center of Excellence in Paris

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) today announced the creation of a Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Centre of Excellence in Paris, during the Choose France Summit, hosted by President Emmanuel Macron.

The new AI centre will be based in the upcoming TCS PacePort in the La Défense area of Paris, which will be inaugurated in June 2024, becoming the seventh such facility in TCS’ global Pace network, following Amsterdam, London, New York, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and Tokyo.

The TCS AI Centre of Excellence in Paris will leverage TCS’ global ecosystem of startups, academia, and research organisations to bring the best of global capabilities to French companies. The new centre will join France’s growing AI ecosystem and tap into its deep talent base in design and engineering, to build advanced technologies in the space of human-centric AI, said the company.

Valerie Pecresse, President of the Regional Council of the Ile-de-France region, said, “Paris region is fast developing into one of the global epicentres for Artificial Intelligence. We are delighted to see this new investment by TCS, which will boost the AI ecosystem we are looking to develop and provide new opportunities to our students and professionals. I look forward to inaugurating this centre in June.”

The centre will, initially, focus on areas such as brain-computer interface, building empathy in machines, and unleashing the power of AI in arts and culture. The leading position that Paris has as a global hub of culture, arts, and design will provide added impetus to this initiative.

Dr. Harrick Vin, Chief Technology Officer, TCS, said, “The need of the hour is to boost AI skills present in the country, accelerate the adoption of AI in the French economy, and develop global capabilities here that will benefit the rest of the world. Our new AI centre in Paris will focus on many of these areas, including the development of talent and leveraging the world-renowned culture that France has for design – reflected in its fashion, luxury sector and museums.”

Our new investments in the TCS PacePort in Paris and the TCS AI Centre of Excellence are demonstrations of our ongoing commitment to building capabilities in the most advanced technologies and bringing them to bear for our clients in the country and across the world. The new centre will focus on boosting human-centred AI capabilities for the banking & financial services, manufacturing, and consumer sectors, to start with. We will hire new talent and partner with universities to offer internships and projects, to support the National AI Mission,” said Rammohan Gourneni, Country Head, TCS France.

TCS has continuously ramped up its investments in France, since commencing operations in 1992. With the acquisition of TKS- Teknosoft in 2006, and of Alti in 2013, TCS significantly boosted its presence in the region. It now has 1,600 employees in the country, working for 80 of France’s leading businesses. TCS has established three delivery centres in Lille, Poitiers, and Paris and will soon set up a new facility in Toulouse.

It recently modernised its corporate headquarters in La Défense, invested in creating a new PacePort and has recruited over 500 people over the past three years.