India is no longer just a support center for Salesforce—it has emerged as a global testbed and innovation engine for the company’s AI strategy. Arundhati Bhattacharya, President and CEO of Salesforce South Asia, says the country now plays a critical role in piloting large-scale AI solutions and developing talent for AI, compliance, and ethical technology frameworks.

Salesforce’s investments in India reflect this shift: the company expanded its headcount from around 2,500 employees in 2020 to over 13,000 today, supporting enterprise deployments across BFSI, healthcare, automotive, and public sector verticals . With more than 2 million Salesforce developers in India, the country hosts the second-largest developer community after the U.S., making it a hotbed for building scalable, agentic AI solutions.

Bhattacharya highlighted India’s unique infrastructure—including Aadhaar, UPI, and other digital public goods, as providing a head start in generative AI and autonomous agents. She believes that solutions stress-tested in India, during high-volume events like festivals—can seamlessly scale globally. India also ranks third in the world for startup ecosystem size and second for Salesforce platform innovators, making it a prime partner in the next wave of AI.

Enterprises across major sectors in India are already leveraging Salesforce’s AI stack—from manufacturing to customer service—with advanced use cases in autonomous supply chain agents and security-sensitive applications . Bhattacharya emphasizes that businesses embracing agentic AI must prioritize data quality, security, and compliance, areas where Salesforce India has made significant strides. Beyond business, Salesforce India is investing heavily in skill development. It partners with more than 3,000 colleges, supports Trailhead training, and collaborates with national initiatives to build next-gen AI and compliance expertise.

As enterprises globally accelerate their AI adoption, India’s robust ecosystem of developers, digital infrastructure, and enterprise innovators is becoming indispensable to Salesforce’s global strategy. For Bhattacharya, India’s journey from support center to AI nerve center signals a watershed moment, not just for her company, but for the region’s role in shaping the future of intelligent enterprise.