US analytics firm ThoughtSpot 'acquihires' India's SagasIT Analytics

ThoughtSpot has invested $150 mn in India between 2022 and 2027, set up an 'excellence centre'

USA’s ThoughtSpot has "acquirhired" employees of SagasIT Analytics, an analytics consulting firm in Bengaluru, referring to a business practice of buying a company for its team.

The employees acquired are data solutions specialists who will form the India Customer Center of Excellence (CCOE) to support ThoughtSpot’s global team. As many as 30 employees of SagasIT Analytics including its founder and chief executive officer Harshawardhan Joshi, will join ThoughtSpot. The deal value was not disclosed.

India CCOE is part of ThoughtSpot’s $150 million investment in the country between 2022 and 2027. It follows the opening of its third research and development centre in the region in Thiruvananthapuram, launched in September 2022. ThoughtSpot is making such investments and expanding amid macroeconomic uncertainty and funding winter.

“The pandemic was not what any of us wanted, but it (accelerated) digital transformation. And just like that, every crisis is an opportunity for the one who's brave enough to lean into it,” said Sudheesh Nair, chief executive officer, ThoughtSpot, in an interview.

“This (acquisition) is about finding a very specific business need and a group of really talented entrepreneurs who would benefit at ThoughtSpot and ThoughtSpot would also benefit from them. We have to build a company in a way that the culture attracts other entrepreneurs to come inside,” said Nair.

The SagasIT Analytics team has expertise in areas such as data visualization, data engineering, and data science. It provides services to customers such as Unilever, Mercedes-Benz, GE Healthcare, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Stanford University.

“ThoughtSpot is an innovative and strategic partner to customers around the world. We share a similar mission in empowering the human mind to ask questions and make data-informed decisions,” said Joshi.

Sumeet Arora, chief development officer, ThoughtSpot said the SagasIT Analytics team has worked with Global 2000 customers to implement data engineering, data science, and data visualization solutions.  “This experienced team will have an immeasurable impact on our ability to meet customers where they are to support their modern data stack journeys and strategies for building their businesses on data,” said Arora.

He said that ThoughtSpot is looking for more acquisitions as well as talent. “We are looking at inorganic and organic growth. It is an exciting time for Indian talent to work on industry-changing problems,” said Arora.

ThoughtSpot’s R&D teams in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram span engineering, design and operations.

“In the last six months, we have added 50 per cent more people in India. It has been phenomenal growth for us. We have (grown) from 250 people to 400 people in India,” said Nair.

ThoughtSpot counts organisations such as T-Mobile, Daimler, Nasdaq and Royal Bank of Canada among its top customers.