Philips launches innovation campus in Bengaluru; gen AI provides more opportunities, says CEO
BENGALURU: Generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) provides a lot of opportunities, and it is the next wave of new technology that can help solve the problems of customers, said Roy Jakobs, CEO of Royal Philips.
The company launched its new innovation campus in Bengaluru that can accommodate 5,000 employees. Speaking on the sidelines of the launch in the city on Thursday, Jakobs said if you look at healthcare, our customers are asking how we can serve more patients.
"So, we are looking at how technology can help them process more patients," he said, explaining the significant role that AI plays in innovation.
The company has over 9,000 employees in India, and of these 5,000 employees in Bengaluru will be working on innovative health technologies. The company employs over 70,700 employees globally.
It also has a Healthcare Innovation Centre in Pune, Global Business Services in Chennai, and commercial teams in Gurugram.
For the Netherlands-headquartered Philips, India plays a significant role and it is a major hub for innovation.
"Philips has been innovating for more than 130 years and started doing business in India some 92 years ago. In the last 27 years, the Philips Innovation Campus in Bengaluru has grown to represent almost all our business categories and supporting roles," the CEO said.
"In India, we not only want to speed up access to care but also locally develop and contribute to solutions for the rest of the world," he added.
Last year, with an investment of Rs 400 crore under the PLI scheme, the company's healthcare innovation centre in Chakan, Pune, started manufacturing radio frequency coils for MRI machines. The company also plans expansions in Pune. It spends yearly over $1.7 billion on innovation, of which 50% goes into software development. Philips also sees growth opportunities in the beauty and grooming verticals of its business in India.
The company's group sales increased 11% to euro 4.5 billion for the third quarter of this year, and it also raised its full-year guidance to 6-7% comparable sales growth and an Adjusted EBITA margin of 10-11%.