The first AI feature we rolled out came from India and it was a huge success: Srinivasan Chamarthy, Diligent

In an exclusive conversation with Express Computer, Srinivasan Chamarthy, SVP Engineering, Site Lead and Country Head India at Diligent, opens up about the company’s strategic journey in India, from its inception through key acquisitions to becoming a comprehensive innovation hub. Chamarthy sheds light on how Diligent’s India centre has evolved beyond traditional BPO models to lead in product development, AI integration, and full-stack ownership, driving global roadmaps for governance, risk, compliance, and audit software solutions. He also discusses the unique challenges and opportunities in the Indian market, the ongoing skill evolution amid rising AI adoption, and ambitious plans for aggressive team expansion and innovation-led growth.

Can you walk us through Diligent’s journey into India, and how the India GCC has evolved over the years in terms of capabilities and strategic importance?

Diligent entered India through a series of acquisitions. It began when Galvanize, which had earlier acquired a company called Rsam, present in India for over 10 years, became part of Diligent in 2021. Galvanize had a presence in both Canada and India, and with that acquisition, Diligent officially established its footprint in India.

Since then, our India centre has evolved into a full-fledged capability hub. We now support end-to-end functions across the entire product suite that spans governance, risk, compliance, and audit. This site is unique because it houses every critical function under one roof, product, engineering, QA, customer support, integrations, customer success, finance, HR, everything. It’s truly a comprehensive, end-to-end operation from India.

So, in how many geographies are you currently operating and how big is your portfolio of business in India?

In terms of our global presence, we currently serve clients in about 130 countries. We have offices in 11 different locations and development centres in three key hubs: India, Budapest, and Vancouver.

While I can’t disclose exact figures for India specifically, I can say that the U.S. accounts for more than 50% of our business. The rest of the world, including India, makes up the remaining share. India remains an important part of our global footprint.

Can you walk us through the company’s core offerings and how they cater to today’s evolving compliance, risk, and governance needs?

First, let me say that this is a very niche and essential area, one that’s not consumer-facing, so people don’t hear much about it, but it’s critical for listed companies, pre-IPO firms, or any organisation that must demonstrate governance and compliance to shareholders and stakeholders. That’s exactly where we come in.

We don’t offer just one product, we have a suite of around 40 solutions on our unified Diligent One platform. It covers everything from governance to audit and all the areas in between. Whether it’s company secretaries handling board meetings and minutes, legal officers ensuring compliance, risk officers assessing threats, or auditors managing internal checks, our platform caters to all these personas, including CFOs, CEOs, and even CTOs who interact with the board.

Let me give you an example. Say you’re a compliance officer at a manufacturing company that needs to procure raw materials. If you choose a vendor who’s been involved in bribery, child labor, or worse, has connections to suspicious funding sources, that exposes your company to significant reputational and compliance risk. Our Third Party Manager tool scans millions of sources, government, commercial, and open web, to flag such risks using advanced algorithms. It gives you a clear view of any potential red flags before you finalise a contract.

That’s just one of our products. Across the board, we aim to simplify and automate complex governance tasks.

I know that Diligent is currently leveraging the benefits of AI. So, where does AI fit in all these?

AI is at the core of everything we build today, it’s not just a layer; it’s embedded in the entire product lifecycle. For instance, take board books, which can run 500–600 pages and typically take weeks to compile before shareholder meetings. One of our clients, a large bank with 120 entities worldwide, used to spend weeks preparing these. Now, with our AI-enabled platform, board books can be generated in minutes by pulling data from multiple sources and assembling them automatically. The client can then review and finalise the document, dramatically reducing time and effort.

And that’s just one example. Whether it’s audit, compliance, or risk, AI helps drive productivity and faster decision-making across the board.

From your experience, what are some of the common challenges they face in the Indian market? Is there a pattern or anything specific that stands out?

Compliance is a common challenge for almost every customer, regardless of geography. I wouldn’t say India is better or worse; it’s just that compliance is mandatory everywhere, and the rules vary from country to country.

Our clients in India include tech companies, biotech firms, manufacturers, software companies, banks, and fintechs. Each of these verticals faces a unique set of compliance requirements. For instance, compliance in biotechnology is vastly different from manufacturing, which is again different from fintech. The real challenge isn’t the laws of the land, but rather enabling each of these sectors to meet their specific legal and regulatory obligations.

At the core, compliance frameworks globally are quite similar: you need transparency, auditability, and systems that make information accessible and accountable. Differences arise when you get into the details, say, labor laws in Thailand versus India versus the U.S.

That’s where our software comes in. We’ve built a platform that captures these commonalities while also being adaptable to meet specific regulatory requirements across industries and geographies.

Over the last two decades, India has transformed from being primarily a BPO hub to becoming an innovation centre. With over 1,700 GCCs employing more than 1.9 million people, how would you quantify the strength of your India team? Also, what strategies do you follow to retain and nurture talent in this highly competitive landscape?

The India team currently has a strength of 500. Looking at the broader picture, we’ve clearly moved far beyond the BPO model. Earlier, companies came to India primarily for cost savings. Today, the driver is talent. In fact, some of the principal engineers we hire here are compensated at levels quite comparable to those in the U.S. There’s still a difference, but it’s not what it used to be, it’s no longer about hiring four Indian engineers for the cost of one in the U.S.

Now, organisations are coming to India to accelerate their roadmaps through talent and efficiency. Cost savings, maybe 10, 20, or even 50 percent, is secondary. It’s more about how these teams contribute to innovation and drive end-to-end execution. For instance, my team is distributed across India, Vancouver, and the U.S., and we work in a 24/5 model. This handoff structure, originally envisioned during Oracle’s early days in India, has become a practical reality today.

The nature of work has also changed. We’re no longer just executing, we’re pioneering. The first AI feature we rolled out came from India and was a huge success. We now guide other teams globally on development strategies. Our India centre owns complete roadmaps, with teams handling everything end-to-end, from infrastructure to databases. Diligent empowers these teams with full ownership, which brings both accountability and pride in what they deliver. That’s the true transformation: from BPO to innovation-led, full-stack ownership.

With the rise of AI and the parallel increase in cybersecurity challenges, do you believe there’s a skill gap in the industry? If so, what steps are being taken to bridge that gap?

Let’s set AI aside for a second. If you look back 20 years, technologies like Java and .NET were at the top of the stack. Then came Ruby on Rails, Scala, Python, Elixir, Golang, and so on. Tech has always evolved based on organisational needs. Java is still widely used, but it’s certainly not the same Java from 20 years ago. The same applies to tools like Excel, Salesforce, and Tableau, they’ve all advanced, and so must our skills.

Upskilling isn’t a new requirement. It’s a continuous process for anyone wanting to stay relevant, especially in software. Whether it was embedded systems, B2C platforms, the cloud revolution, or now AI and GenAI, there has always been a shift in what’s required from talent. GenAI is just the latest wave. And yes, there is a skill gap, just like there was in every past transition.

What matters is how well we highlight its importance and enable our engineers to upskill. There are two modes: top-down and bottom-up. If someone’s personally motivated, they’ll learn at their own pace. But if leadership drives it, saying, “This is our future”—that adds momentum.

In fact, right before this conversation, I was speaking to our L&D team about new training programs. The gaps are real, no doubt. But what’s crucial is how proactively we address them. We’ve already started rolling out AI products and encouraging our teams to be more productive and efficient with AI tools. So yes, while gaps exist, we’re taking the right steps to close them.

What’s your vision for the next couple of years? Are there any plans to expand your team or focus on any particular areas?

Absolutely. We are already in the process of expanding our team. I was a bit hesitant to mention an exact number because by the time this is published, that figure might have changed, we’re hiring aggressively right now. Over the next seven to eight months, we expect significant growth, and over the next two years, even more so.

That said, it’s not just about increasing headcount. It’s really about the number of products, features, and meaningful outcomes we’re driving from here. But yes, to directly answer your question, team expansion is well underway, and we’re actively scaling up.