Infor sees 100% growth in India in 2024; to increase headcount by 15-20%

Kevin Samuelson, global CEO, Infor, said that they are also setting up their own data centre in India to resolve data residency issues for some customers

Infor, the third-largest Cloud-based enterprise resource planning solutions provider, is scaling up its India operations by expanding sales and increasing its employee base by 15-20 per cent annually.

 

Kevin Samuelson, global chief executive officer of Infor, said they are also setting up their own data centre in India to resolve the data residency issue for some customers. The data centre will be launched in partnership with Amazon Web Services.

 

“India grew 100 per cent for us in 2024, so it is a focus market for us. We have close to 5,000 employees in India, and it is growing at a rate of 15-20 per cent annually,” Samuelson told Business Standard.

 

He further added that Infor, which has been in India since 1995, has built talent across all capabilities, such as implementation, product development, and support services. “Our generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and AI capabilities and work are being done at our India centres. Many of our core products and solutions are being developed in India,” said Samuelson.

 

He also noted that the fact that several of its core product works are carried out in India has helped the company attract and retain good talent. “Our attrition in India is just 6.5 per cent. The focus on owning products makes us an attractive employer,” he added.

 

Samuelson mentioned that the company’s India human resources head, when asked if there are issues with hiring local talent, told him that the 5,000 employees have shared over 30,000 referrals.

 

Infor has a total headcount of 5,000 in India, which represents 35 per cent of its global headcount. Of these 5,000, close to 3,300 employees are at its Hyderabad facility. The firm also has centres in Bengaluru, Pune, and Ahmedabad, which were acquired through some of their earlier acquisitions.

 

Infor is also increasing its penetration into the Indian market. “Our focus area is largely manufacturing and distribution. Hence, India is a compelling market. We believe India is poised to see substantial growth in manufacturing. We have heavily invested here. We are bullish about the local market,” he added.

 

For Infor, India is certainly among the top five regions globally. “In terms of size and maturity of the market, the US and Europe hold top positions. But when it comes to opportunity over the next five to 10 years, India is a much more exciting and growing region,” he added.

 

Infor is a $3.5 billion Cloud-powered enterprise resource planning solutions provider. Some of the prominent clients it has in India include Thermax, Larsen & Toubro, and Godrej, among others. Unlike some of its competitors, the company focuses on eight industrial segments, six of which are in manufacturing and distribution. In the US, Infor focuses on healthcare and the public sector.

 

When asked how GenAI and AI are impacting the company and whether clients are adopting and deploying these technologies, Samuelson said there is a huge gap between the capacity being built and its actual usage.

 

“The current challenge with GenAI is that there is a huge gap between all the capacity that’s being built and its actual usage. Whenever I talk to our customers and ask how many are using GenAI, almost every hand in the room goes up. But when it comes to driving value, very few can see results,” he added.