Festo Says AI Could Redefine Hiring as Bengaluru GCC Targets 600 Staff

Festo, the German automation technology firm, today inaugurated its 71,000 square feet Global Capability Centre (GCC), near Electronics City in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The company did not disclose the investment amount for the new GCC.

Speaking at the media interaction Festo executives said that the new centre will bring all steps of the value chain together, like engineering, production and shared services under one roof, and also focus on adding local talent.

Sebastian Beck, Member of the Management Board for HR & Finance, Festo SE &Co., based out of Germany, who was in Bengaluru, said that with the inauguration of this centre, Festo is marking a shift from a largely sales-led presence to deeper localisation, including local engineering, sourcing and manufacturing.

With its new GCC in Bengaluru, the 100-year-old pneumatics and automation firm said it plans to scale its Global Capability Centre to about 600 employees by 2030, up from over 250 currently in Bengaluru.

Speaking on hiring plans, Alok Maheshwari, Head of GCC, Festo India, said the centre is targeting 2.5x growth, but stressed that headcount alone is not the goal.

"Maybe AI might impact things in such a way that 300 people generate the same value that 600 people would have earlier. So, we will have to think about what avenues and what kind of skills are required," he said, underlining that the focus is on value creation rather than just numbers.

On the impact of AI on hiring, leadership said that the technology is unlikely to reduce headcount in the near term. While AI can assist in writing code, human expertise is still needed to validate and apply it correctly.

On the competitive environment in Bengaluru around hiring tech talent, Alok said Festo positions itself around impact-driven work in areas such as bionics, robotics and advanced industrial technologies, helping candidates see long-term career value beyond pay.

Beck added that talent does not have to go towell-known names like Porsche, Google or Apple. "You can have the same learning experience here." The company said it is primarily hiring professionals with experience in industrial automation and related sectors such as automotive, citing the importance of domain expertise.

Alok said that over the past year, the GCC has onboarded more than 100 professionals across full-stack development, analytics and AI/ML, including talent from larger companies. He added that 20 offer letters have already been rolled out, with those candidates set to join in March, and more than 50 positions are currently open.

With the new centre, Festo said it will focus on exporting software, digitalisation and AI services globally.

The company said the GCC is primarily hiring for software and technology-led roles across electric automation, process automation and device automation. The focus is on full-stack development, including backend, frontend and tool development, rather than pure web development.

The company is also recruiting for niche research roles such as data scientists and embedded AI specialists, along with product security engineers, a key priority area. In addition, it is hiring automation testing engineers to support scale, with an emphasis on building automated systems.

The German automation company added that the new Bengaluru GCC will build on the skills of existing employees supporting global process optimisation and innovation.

Skilling & Workforce Development

On upskilling Festo said that it was central to the company's India strategy. Alok Maheshwari said that teams are trained on emerging technologies well before they are deployed in products, with a strong emphasis on hands-on learning rather than classroom certifications. The company said it also works closely with leading engineering institutes through guest lectures, internships, joint research projects and campus hiring to bridge the academia-industry gap.

From a global perspective, management added that Festo views itself as a "learning company" committed to lifelong development. The firm also said that it has deployed internal AI tools since two years and training programmes to help employees adopt AI in their roles through

"India has been a key growth market for Festo for four decades. The company remains focused on empowering industries, enabling skills for tomorrow through technical education and shaping the future of automation through innovation, partnership, and long-term impact," said Alok Maheshwari, Head of GCC, Festo India.

On Sustainability

On corporate sustainability in manufacturing Ravi Sastry, Managing Director, Festo India, said sustainability is approached at two levels: operations and product design. At its Indian manufacturing facility, around 70% of energy consumption is supported by solar power. Additionally, Festo is designing more compact and energy-efficient automation products, particularly in compressed air systems, to reduce energy usage in factory environments.

"Our GCC in Bengaluru is aligned with Festo's vision of automation for a sustainable future. The centre will play a significant role in driving global R&D initiatives while fostering collaboration with India's rich technology and engineering talent pool, said Ravi Sastry.

Festo said its new Global Capability Centre in India will serve as a global innovation hub focused on software development, digitalisation, AI and machine learning, Industry 4.0 solutions, predictive analytics, autonomous systems and industrial cybersecurity.

Alok said the centre is tasked with exploring emerging technologies early and preparing solutions ahead of market maturity.

The company said it has also set up a dedicated Product Security Lab in India, described as the only such lab within Festo globally, alongside research and innovation capabilities. The executives said that AI investments are driven strictly by customer use cases that are scalable and economically viable, rather than experimentation without commercial value.

Investments in India

Leadership highlighted significant recent investments in India, including the expansion of its Global Production Centre across an 80-acre campus with approximately 5,50,000 square feet of built-up space. The new GCC facility has been designed for scalability, with capacity to accommodate 700 to 800 employees.

Executives said investment decisions are linked to long-term value creation rather than fixed capital outlay targets, noting that India is being positioned as both a manufacturing and digital export base.

India–EU Trade Deal & Global Realignment

On the India-EU trade deal, Ravi Sastry said the evolving trade discussions signal stronger strategic alignment between the two regions, describing India as a "natural partner" for Europe, adding that improved trade sentiment could facilitate freer movement of goods, services and talent.

The executives said that reduced trade barriers could strengthen export opportunities and potentially influence global production allocation decisions, with India seen as a reliable long-term partner amid broader geopolitical realignments.

Asian Markets & Localisation Strategy

Fromaglobal management perspective, Beck described India as a strategic growth driver within Festo's Asian portfolio. He said that unlike Europe or the U.S., Asian markets require deeper localisation, including local engineering, sourcing and manufacturing, to succeed.

The company added that solutions developed in India for cost-sensitive and demanding customers could later be scaled to other global markets, positioning the GCC as both a local innovation engine and a global export hub.

Over the past four decades, Festo India has grown to employ more than 1,000 people. The independent, family-owned company is headquartered in Esslingen am Neckar, Germany, and operates across around 250 locations with approximately 20,000 employees worldwide. Festo reported annual revenues of about €3.5 billion and invests over 8% of its turnover in research and development.