Motive Technologies to Hire 100 as AI Unicorns Expand into India

Fleet management startup Motive Technologies Inc. is set to significantly increase its workforce in India, aligning with a growing trend of artificial intelligence unicorns from Silicon Valley expanding into the South Asian market.

The San Francisco-based company intends to recruit over 300 individuals for its AI, product, and engineering teams at its Bangalore development center within the next two years, according to Chief Executive Officer Shoaib Makani in a recent interview. With a valuation of $2.85 billion following a funding round in 2022, Motive provides tools that assist fleet operators in managing their personnel, vehicles, and expenses.

Motive is part of a wave of startups that are following in the footsteps of major tech giants like Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp. in India, capitalizing on one of the world’s largest pools of AI engineering talent to enhance product development and drive innovation. Bangalore, in particular, is becoming a key hub as the tech sector invests billions to establish facilities and attract AI professionals in the world’s most populous nation.

“The AI talent density in Bangalore rivals the Bay Area,” said Makani, a Google and Khosla Ventures alum. “If you aren’t in Bangalore, you are at a strategic disadvantage.”

Bangalore, recognized as India’s leading tech center, will accommodate one-third of Motive’s global research and development workforce. Motive, which serves 120,000 clients including FedEx Corp. and Halliburton Co., currently employs around 250 people in India.

According to a recent study by market research firm IDC, artificial intelligence is projected to generate a cumulative global economic impact of $19.9 trillion by 2030, driving growth worldwide. However, a shortage of talent poses a significant challenge to its widespread adoption — by 2027, half of the AI jobs in the US are expected to remain unfilled, and India is projected to lack one million skilled AI professionals by that time, as reported by Bain & Co.

Unicorn Abbyy Software, which specializes in AI-powered document automation, last week opened an R&D center in Bangalore with about 65 positions, and plans to double that over the next year. The region’s talented workforce offers tremendous opportunities for startups, Ulf Persson, CEO of the Milpitas, California-based company, said in an announcement.

Glean Technologies Inc., an enterprise AI startup based in Palo Alto, California, was valued at $4.6 billion and had approximately 100 engineers at its Bangalore development center last year, with plans to increase that number threefold this year. Other unicorns, such as ElevenLabs and AlphaSense, have also established research centers in India.

Next week, Norwegian AI firm Cognite AS, which develops AI solutions for major energy companies, will launch a facility in Bangalore, creating around 100 jobs in areas like AI and machine learning.

Also read: Viksit Workforce for a Viksit Bharat

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