By now, we know that Salesforce is experiencing some steady growth. Just last month, the company announced their results for the third fiscal quarter 2024, revealing an 11% growth year-over-year.
But when we break that down further, you might be wondering where the fastest growth is coming from internally – specifically, which country or region. Is it the US? Europe? UK? Actually, it could very well be India. With the APAC region seeing an impressive 18% YoY growth, India is (and continues to be) one of the fastest-growing regions for Salesforce in the world. Let’s take a closer look…
The Facts
So, where is this growth coming from? Well, it didn’t happen overnight. In fact, Salesforce growth in India has been fuelled by businesses accelerating their adoption of cloud technologies over time and partnering with Salesforce as their trusted digital advisor. Arundhati Bhattacharya, the CEO and Chairperson of Salesforce India, says that companies are now understanding the importance of efficient digitization, as well as the need to adopt advanced tech like AI due to growing data requirements.
Although India is bursting at the seams with strong IT talent, the country has been slow at “catching up with modern technology”, according to Bhattacharya, and many organizations have turned to Salesforce as the tool of choice to get up to speed with progression efforts.
Of course, Salesforce is doing their bit to help. The company have had a presence in India since 2005, and today, it has significantly grown its employee base in India – from 2,500 people in 2020 to 10,000 people today, across offices in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, and Jaipur.
Strong Support
It could definitely be said that the range of support offered by Salesforce has been key in India’s resounding growth. The company has ongoing partnerships with the National Skill Development Corporation, NASSCOM, ICT Academy, TalentSprint, and many more – all having a significant presence in India.
Not only that, but in 2022, Salesforce launched a unique program in collaboration with the government of India known as the Virtual Internship program. As an initiative in place with the aim of upskilling 200,000 Salesforce-skilled students over five years, the program combines project-based learning, curriculum integration, and mentoring support. Currently, over 60,000 people have benefited from the program.
The efforts haven’t stopped this year either. It was announced earlier this year that Hyderabad’s flagship Centre of Excellence (CoE) was being expanded. This was a great step forward in reinforcing India as a Salesforce hub for knowledge, innovation, and talent. Part of this expansion will eventually result in higher capacity too, as the company plans to expand its office presence in Bengaluru, hiring a variety of different roles.
Top Talent
Although certain opportunities make it easier for India’s cohort of Salesforce professionals to get upskilled and employed, a lot of that success comes from the talent available and, specifically, how it is cultivated. For one, India has more Trailhead users than any other market outside of the US. This has helped establish an extensive ecosystem of partners, start-ups, and, more specifically, over 2M Salesforce Developers.
The drive to learn Salesforce can also be seen, interestingly, on YouTube. As YouTube becomes more and more popular as a Salesforce learning source, the demand for educational material from India continues to grow. Here at Salesforce Ben, India makes up our second largest viewership outside of the US.
Arundhati Bhattacharya also commented on how India has taken the initiative in exploring Salesforce’s AI, experimenting with particular use cases to ascertain if AI can significantly enhance solutions.
It was perhaps evident from the beginning that the talent was there – they just needed the right tools and opportunities.
What Does This Mean for Salesforce and India?
It’s safe to say that if this scale of growth continues, it will mean great things for both Salesforce and India’s Salesforce workforce and overall economy. In fact, according to the IDC, the Salesforce economy in India will create 1.3M jobs and 66.4B USD in new business revenue by 2026.
India’s economy is already feeling the positive effects, as India’s YoY growth in terms of Salesforce revenue totals up to ₹6,000.3 crore, or $720M USD in FY23.
All of this has meant that India has been instrumental in contributing significantly to the goal of delivering Salesforce’s commitments to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.
This has been such an important step in increasing the accessibility of Salesforce and diversifying the talent of the Salesforce ecosystem across the globe. Salesforce continuously strives towards appropriate and forward-thinking accessibility standards, so this result is likely something they are observing closely and looking to make even better in the future.
Summary
Although the US market has been the hub for Salesforce for years, it’s interesting to see India rise up as its own steadfast player. Providing opportunities to IT professionals, supporting Salesforce’s Indo-Pacific goals and building up India’s economy are just some of the benefits that this growth has brought, and it’s likely that we’ll see many more benefits come to fruition in the near future and beyond.