Tech major deepens India footprint with a facility designed to shape enterprise-grade AI solutions
SAP Labs India has inaugurated its second Research & Development campus in Bengaluru with an investment of €194 million (approximately ₹1,800 crore). The 41-acre facility — known as the Innovation Park — significantly expands the company’s R&D capacity, reinforcing India’s status as SAP’s largest development hub outside Germany.
Expanding India’s Innovation Engine
Located near Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport in Devanahalli, the new campus complements SAP’s existing 22-acre Whitefield facility. It currently houses around 3,200 employees, with plans to onboard an additional 1,300 engineers within the next two months. Once fully operational, the campus will support up to 15,000 professionals.
SAP India Managing Director Sindhu Gangadharan emphasized that the new campus aims to foster co-innovation among SAP, academic institutions, startups, and customers. She reaffirmed SAP India’s annual hiring plan of 1,500–2,000 engineers, primarily focused on AI and R&D talent.
A Hub for AI Integration and Productivity
SAP Executive Board Member Thomas Saueressig called the campus “a new chapter of innovation,” adding that over 75% of SAP engineers have received AI training and 90% use AI tools to boost productivity. He said the company is working toward making “every SAP developer an AI developer.”
India houses 40% of SAP’s global R&D workforce, and accounts for 25% of its patents. SAP’s India teams now play a central role in integrating AI into core enterprise solutions such as S/4 HANA, HXM, and its sustainability offerings.
Strategic Context for Growth
The Bengaluru Innovation Park underscores SAP’s long-term investment strategy in India. With India rapidly emerging as one of the company’s top-growth markets, executives say the facility will bolster its ability to deliver AI-powered enterprise tools for global customers.
The expanded R&D footprint aligns with SAP’s broader intent to embed AI across its product suite—not as a separate function, but as foundational to all engineering workflows. The aim is to double customer productivity gains—from 20% to 40%—through generative AI and automation by year-end.
Enabling Synergies and Ecosystems
The inauguration was attended by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, IT Minister Priyank Kharge, and the German Ambassador to India, among other dignitaries and SAP leaders. The event highlighted the campus’s role as a hub for collaboration among industry, academia, and government entities.
SAP has also committed to expanding training collaborations—including a €100,000 initiative to train underserved youth in AI roles via partnerships with educational institutions like IIT Madras. Academic tie-ups aim to foster innovation in areas such as health prediction and sustainability, reflecting SAP’s ethos of inclusive technology impact.
Why This Role Matters
As the digital economy expands, enterprise demand for AI-embedded software is accelerating. SAP supports over 440,000 customers worldwide, with its systems powering more than 80% of global commerce. India, as one of its key engineering and innovation hubs, plays a vital role in shaping these capabilities.
With the new Innovation Park, SAP is poised to enhance its AI capacity, democratize access to high-end R&D infrastructure, and contribute significantly to India’s emergence as a global AI engineering nucleus.