Strong growth in the domestic software-as-a-service segment is driving global market leader Salesforce to bet big on India. In a chat with Pradeesh Chandran, the firm’s executive vice president for Industries, Innovation & Partners, Tyler Prince, discusses a wide range of topics including its future plans for the market. Excerpts:
How do you see industry’s evolution from early 2000?
Salesforce started with its focus on a single function: Salesforce Automation. But now, it has evolved into a comprehensive platform focused on customer success. We are working with our customers across sectors to help them get closer to their consumers. It has been exciting not only to see this evolution of cloud and SaaS, but now also to see Salesforce becoming a full customer success platform.
What is India’s significance to future opportunities?
There is a common theme in the Indian market today and it is around digital transformation. Every digital transformation has to do with customer transformation. Today, companies are trying to get closer to consumers; manufacturing companies are moving from a product-oriented mindset to defining service orientation strategy to deal with ever-changing consumer needs.
Additionally, the number of smartphones and mobile users in this market is massive. Salesforce’s platform is very focused on mobile first and there is a tremendous interest in engaging consumers and individuals on their phone. The maturity in the domestic market in adopting cloud has shifted fundamentally over time as well.
What percentage of your overall revenue comes from India?
We don’t break geography wise revenues. India is a major growth market for us and we are excited about the opportunity. We have over 1,000 employees in the region. The partner ecosystem is robust and growing very quickly. I would not be surprised if the Salesforce practice is the fastest growing practice for them. We have plans to double the partner ecosystem over the next 24
months too.
How big is Salesforce’s R&D operation in India?
We have dramatically grown our presence, mostly in Hyderabad, from a product development perspective and that has become a very core business. It has certainly become an important extension of our product efforts happening in other places including our global headquarters in San Francisco. Our second largest employee base outside of the US is in the Indian marketplace, which is amazing.
What are your plans for the Indian startup ecosystem?
Startups are an important part of our ecosystem around the world. The level of excitement and investment in driving innovation around mobile and AI in India is remarkable. We have a very robust offering for startups. In terms of investment in startups, we have a separate corporate venture arm called Salesforce Ventures who looks into that. We are one of the most active corporate venture groups of in-company funding around the world. It has been an important element for us to help our ecosystem.