Snowflake expands to Bengaluru to power India's AI data cloud ambitions

A new foothold in the Silicon Valley of India

Snowflake, the enterprise AI and data cloud platform, has opened a new office in Bengaluru, underscoring its strategic focus on India as a growth engine. The office, located at The Square on Vittal Mallya Road, forms part of a broader tri-city footprint that already includes Mumbai and a Pune-based Center of Excellence (CoE). This constellation is designed to serve Snowflake's diverse Indian customer base—from digital-native startups to large enterprises—without sacrificing the speed and scale that define its global operations.

For Snowflake, Bengaluru isn't just a new address. It's a signal that the company intends to embed itself deeply in one of India's most vibrant tech ecosystems. Bengaluru, often referred to as the Silicon Valley of India, offers a dense talent pool, a thriving community of data professionals, and a culture of experimentation that aligns with Snowflake's emphasis on data-driven innovation. Vijayant Rai, the Managing Director for Snowflake India, framed the move as part of a broader commitment to innovation, collaboration, and building a thriving community of data workers in the region.

A tri-city strategy and what it enables

The Bengaluru office joins Snowflake's Mumbai office as part of a deliberate tri-city approach, enabling closer proximity to customers and partners across India. The Pune CoE is touted as a unique asset within the APJ region, reflecting Snowflake's intent to accelerate regional product adoption and customer success.

• Sales, solutions engineering, marketing, and operations will be staffed in Bengaluru and Mumbai to support regional growth.
• The Pune CoE will anchor research and development activities and serve global customers with a presence in India.

This footprint is complemented by a push to grow Snowflake's local workforce from about 600 to over 700 by the end of 2025, confirming the long-term bets on India as a critical hub for talent and capability-building. The hiring drive spans multiple functions, including roles focused on digital transformation for Indian clients, and aligns with the company’s goal of strengthening the local ecosystem.

R&D ambitions and India-powered innovation

Beyond adding seats and desks, Snowflake is pursuing a dedicated India-based R&D center designed to deepen enterprise technology capabilities and broaden support for global customers operating in India. While the precise location of the new center remains flexible—with Pune frequently mentioned—the objective is to knit Indian engineering talent into Snowflake's worldwide innovation pipeline. The R&D effort is described as a multi-year initiative that will complement the company’s core AI Data Cloud platform, helping enterprises unify and analyze large datasets in ways that are practical for India’s fast-growing digital economy.

To fuel this growth, Snowflake announced plans to hire roughly 100 new employees by year-end across its Indian operations. The new hires will cover a mix of product, engineering, customer success, and services roles—positions that are essential for digital transformation initiatives across sectors.

An ecosystem built on partnerships and skills

Snowflake’s India-focused strategy isn’t just about its own staff. The company highlights a robust partner ecosystem with India-based players forming nearly half of its APJ partners. Big names like Deloitte, EY, LTIMindtree, TCS, AWS, and Microsoft are cited as part of this growing network, underscoring how Snowflake aims to scale with trusted partners rather than going it alone.

In practice, that ecosystem is already supporting a range of Indian customers. Piramal Finance, Godrej Capital, Swiggy, and Urban Company are among those leveraging Snowflake to drive growth, sharpen analytics, and improve operational efficiency. Swiggy, for instance, reported a 92% reduction in certain failed queries and a 20% improvement in query speed, while Urban Company has seen up to 10x operational gains. These anecdotes illustrate how an data cloud can translate into tangible business outcomes in a diverse, data-rich economy.

Aligning with India’s growth story

Snowflake’s Indian drive aligns with the country’s broader ambitions in AI, data, and digital transformation. The company is pursuing growth across high-potential sectors—financial services, manufacturing, retail, and the public sector—while pushing to upskill the nation’s data workforce. A collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and NASSCOM’s FutureSkills Prime platform aims to enroll 100,000 learners in data and AI-skills programs over the next two years, contributing to a robust talent pipeline that can sustain India’s data economy.

Leadership and long-term vision

Sridhar Ramaswamy, Snowflake’s Indian-origin CEO since early 2024, is steering the company through this expansion with a clear view of India as a strategic cornerstone of Snowflake’s global strategy. The Bengaluru move is framed as a statement of intent: Snowflake intends to be at the heart of India’s digital transformation, supporting local firms while growing its own business and capabilities.

The expansion isn’t just about seating more people or opening new offices. It’s about shaping an ecosystem—one that combines local talent, strategic partnerships, and investment in R&D—to help India move faster on AI adoption and data monetization. For Snowflake, Bengaluru isn’t the finale; it’s a launchpad for a longer, more integrated journey into one of the world’s most dynamic tech markets.

What to watch next

• The pace of hiring and the scale of the Pune R&D center over the next 12-18 months.
• The expansion of partnerships with Indian tech and services firms and the impact on local customer outcomes.
• Progress on the India-focused data and AI skills initiative and how it feeds Snowflake’s global talent pipeline.

As Indian enterprises continue to embrace data-driven decision-making and AI-powered solutions, Snowflake’s Bengaluru office signals a deeper commitment to the country’s digital ambitions. The next chapters will reveal how this footprint translates into faster deployments, stronger partnerships, and a more mature AI data cloud ecosystem across India.