India hotbed for global startups, and innovation says Google Cloud’s Executive Matt Renner

NEW DELHI: Google Cloud is significantly increasing investments in India. The country is viewed as major hub for global startups and AI innovation. Matt Renner President and Global Sales Leader at Google Cloud, highlighted importance of Indian market during recent visit. He noted its exceptional potential and dynamic growth.

"India was identified at top of list due to sheer volume and amount of innovation occurring across the country. There are several different hubs" Renner stated. He pointed to the growing adoption of artificial intelligence worldwide. Emphasizing India's role as crucial center for AI innovation.

"We are seeing a nice increase in AI startups for healthcare. For financial services and healthy number of retail startups that are also focusing on AI," Renner remarked.

Google Cloud has observed shift in India towards more mature AI solutions. Businesses increasingly focus on driving tangible business value rather than just proof of concepts. Renner noted "India is maturing at very quick pace. I would put it on par or above most other regions globally. They understand technology. They understand AI. They understand where AI can be used to drive business value. We believe that AI for most companies is marathon. It is not sprint."

Bikram Singh Bedi, Vice President and Country MD of Google Cloud India emphasized that India is evolving from consumer economy to creator economy for Generative AI (GenAI). Alongside AI, security has become critical focus area for Google Cloud. This shift is driven by increasing digital footprints. Security incidents have also contributed. "As more assets come into digital space we see more security incidents. Hence, consumers are keen to have conversations with Google Cloud. They want to see how we can help secure their infrastructure" Bedi explained.

Google Cloud has shown consistent growth in both revenue and profit becoming profitable in early 2023. Achieving operating income of $900 million in first quarter of 2024. This marked fourfold increase from previous year. Bedi highlighted significant growth in Google's India business particularly through collaborations with major Indian companies. Examples include HDFC Bank, Jio and Adani. Partnerships have driven business growth by integrating products and engineering. These efforts bring innovation and transformation to their operations.

The scale at which businesses operate in India is very different from most other markets in world. "For Google Cloud building solutions for this market is about scale. Security stability and innovation are also key," Bedi concluded.

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