Few markets are evolving as rapidly as India right now. Manish Prasad, president and managing director of SAP Indian Subcontinent, oversees a market where 60% of the GDP already touches an SAP system. At the same time, AI investment is accelerating, manufacturing is moving up the national agenda, and India is turning out tech talent at scale.
About Manish Prasad
With more than two decades in technology and business, Manish Prasad leads SAP across India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. He works closely with some of the region’s leading businesses, helping them navigate changing markets and make the most of new technology.
A seasoned global leader, Prasad has worked across North America, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia, with experience spanning industries from metals and mining to automotive. Before SAP, he held senior roles at Wipro, Accenture, Dell, and Tata Steel.
What makes India so strategically important for SAP right now?
Prasad: I would look at it through four pillars. The first is the macro economy. India is one of the fastest-growing major markets, with GDP growth in the 6.5% to 7% range and an economy of about US$4.15 trillion today. The aspiration is to reach somewhere between $6 trillion and $7 trillion by the end of this decade.
Agriculture, pharma, and services have traditionally been the main drivers. Now manufacturing is being added in a big way through the government initiative “Make in India.” As the country pivots toward manufacturing, SAP can become the nerve wire in that growth story.
The second pillar is SAP. We are blessed to have a brand that resonates across the country. Touch any growth lever in this economy, and you’ll find an SAP element there—from national critical infrastructure to the large conglomerates driving growth. We have close to 14,000 customers today, but in the corporate segment alone, we see an addressable market of around 100,000 customers.
The third pillar is talent. India graduates 2.55 million STEM students every year, and about 16% of global AI talent comes from India. Customers across the globe understand that India will remain an extremely important supplier of talent.
And the fourth pillar is government: the push to improve governance, ease of doing business, policy, infrastructure, and logistics costs. Bring all those pieces together, and that is where India becomes unique.
So, India’s growth and SAP’s growth are increasingly connected?
Absolutely. About 60% of India’s GDP touches an SAP system in some form, which is why I say India’s growth story is mirroring SAP’s growth story. The momentum is also coming from the Indian consumer. The buying power of the average Indian is increasing rapidly, and about 70%–75% of what India produces is consumed in the country. When you have to serve 1.4 billion people, the economy keeps driving itself.
Who are SAP’s customers in India, and what do they need most now?
SAP’s customer base in India spans large enterprises, the fast-growing corporate sector, and government. In the enterprise segment, that means working with some of the country’s best-known business groups, including Tata Group, Reliance Industries, and Adani Group.
Government customers are focused on sovereignty: they want the benefits of SAP platforms, but they also want data and critical processes kept locally, especially in the context of AI.
Enterprise customers, meanwhile, are past the proof-of-concept stage. They understand the value of AI; now they do not want to stop at a few pilots or hackathons. They want us to look at their processes end to end and show how the Autonomous Enterprise can improve their KPIs. Either way, the ask is the same: show us the value, and show us fast.
What role does SAP India play in SAP’s global AI ambitions?
First, we have extraordinary scale here. Whatever you touch in India involves millions, sometimes billions, of records. If an AI use case can move from proof of concept to full-scale deployment here, it proves the model is resilient and can be replicated globally.
Second, we have the talent and partner ecosystem to adapt these technologies quickly and cost-effectively for real customer needs. We have seen this with SAP GROW: it has worked well in India because our people and partners can build the right extensions, make the product relevant for customers, and do it at an optimum price point. The same logic is now applying to AI.
And third, our market shows how AI and human talent can grow together. This is not a story about AI replacing people. It is a story about AI complementing talent to create the next level of efficiency and growth.
What makes India’s talent base distinctive?
There is an absolutely positive mindset. India is a middle-class and lower-middle-class country. Many young people come into employment after growing up with constraints. When they get an opportunity, they do not want to miss it. That creates a competitive mindset and a hunger to do better—for their organizations, their families, and themselves.
What SAP provides is the platform: a strong brand, fantastic products, clear leadership, and a market that is expanding in a big way. When those pieces come together, they create real excitement and enthusiasm within our talent.
What are your biggest challenges?
One challenge is that the ambition often starts at the top. Boards want to move fast on transformation, cloud, AI, and the Autonomous Enterprise, but in large Indian organizations, getting that vision through the system can take time. For SAP, the challenge is to reach the right executive level early and help turn that intent into something the business can actually implement.
Then there is the question of reach. India is a huge market, and SAP can only do so much directly. To reach tier-two, tier-three, and tier-four cities, we need partners who understand the industry, the technology, and the customer conversation and who can move with velocity.
Data sovereignty has also become a much bigger part of the conversation, especially with AI. Customers want to understand how local we are, how data is governed, and how business continuity is protected. That can slow the pace at which we want to move, but it is understandable. Events from the Russia war to the West Asia crisis to tariffs have made organizations think much more deeply about resilience as they adopt new technology.
What do you want SAP India to be known for in three or four years?
I would like SAP India to be seen as a market that contributes meaningfully to SAP’s growth. The ambition is for India to contribute 6%–8% of SAP’s growth. We may not be as large as the U.S. or parts of Europe in the near future, but we can become a significant growth engine in our own right.
Just as important, India should create references that matter beyond India. When SAP brings major offerings such as the Autonomous Enterprise, SAP GROW, SAP Business Technology Platform, SAP Business Data Cloud, or SAP Business AI to market, we should be able to point to strong customer examples here that other markets can use, learn from, and replicate. We have already seen that with SAP GROW, including customers deploying in 50 days. Because the scale here is so large, a reference from India can become a proof point for SAP globally.
What is the best part of your job right now?
Representing SAP—and I really mean that. What gets me into the office every day is knowing that while we are helping our customers, those customers are helping move the needle for the nation. SAP is an underlying platform for that growth, and that gives me a real sense of pride, joy, and gratitude. The SAP team in India is making that happen every day, and that is what motivates me personally.
