Why Every Siemens Healthineers Product Now Has India at Its Core

Since the early 2000s, some of the world’s largest healthcare and life sciences companies have established their GCC operations across India.

As per a report by ANSR, cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi-NCR host nearly 85% of all healthcare and life sciences GCCs today, with the sector employing over 15% of the entire GCC workforce in the country.

This vibrant ecosystem is now fueled by a new generation of Indian tech talent, comprising experienced engineers, startup innovators and fresh graduates. From radio-frequency (RF) devices and molecular testing to AI-based medical imaging and fluorescence diagnostics, the outcomes emerging from Indian GCCs are largely changing the concept of patient care. There is also a continuous effort to make healthcare more personalised, customer-centric and accessible.

In fact, in a recent LinkedIn post, Bernd Montag, CEO of Siemens Healthineers, talked about his visit to India. “The 7,000 Healthineers here have made such a profound impact on the innovation and growth within our company that every single Siemens Healthineers product now has ‘India inside of it’.”

The Development Centre (DC) at Siemens Healthineers is essentially a miniature version of the company itself, featuring a large laboratory setup. The company takes great pride in the fact that every product or solution that leaves Siemens Healthineers has its origin in India, with the Development Centre fully involved in its creation, maintaining complete ownership of the process. 

Following this, he further mentioned, “Siemens Healthineers has been manufacturing medical devices in India for over 60 years now. To expand our capabilities, we are investing €160 million (₹1,300 crore) at our Development Centre in Bengaluru, which is on target for a 2025 opening.”

Reiterating this, Kalavathi GV, executive director and head of the global development centre at Siemens Healthineers, mentioned that in fields like CT, MRI, and molecular imaging, the Siemens Healthineers team in India contributes to both scanner development and post-processing. Moreover, for AI-related initiatives, the team undertakes essential tasks including data mining, annotation, and other associated tasks.

An Ode to Indian Talent 

Most GCCs in India are driving their AI innovation from India.

For instance, Lowe’s team in Bengaluru has been a critical driver of its AI journey and has played a critical role in developing and deploying cutting-edge solutions. 

“Many of our core systems, including the omnichannel order management and self-checkout terminals, were built from the ground up by our engineers in Bengaluru. These solutions have provided us with unmatched scalability and flexibility,” Amit Kapur, VP of AI and data analytics at Lowe’s India, told AIM. 

Similarly, Raghavendra Vaidya, managing director and CEO of Daimler Truck Innovation Centre India (DTICI), said in a conversation with AIM that a major project of predictive maintenance, directed from Bengaluru, aims to predict part failures in trucks and buses using analytics and machine learning, instead of traditional physics-based methods. 

In the healthcare sector, Siemens Healthineers plays a vital part within its parent company, making significant contributions to innovation. At present, approximately 54% of the global software workforce is based in Bengaluru, with a team of 3,500. “Over the next 12 to 18 months, the organisation aims to expand the team by adding between 900 and 1,200 new members,” Kalavathi added.

She further revealed that the company is now focused on evolving from local to global solutions. For example, Cios Fit, a multidisciplinary mobile C-arm, is built in India for the Indian market. It is now being expanded for use in other countries as well. The product management team holds full responsibility for this mobile solution across the Indian subcontinent and beyond. 

Another notable innovation is the AI-Rad Companion, a software that has made significant contributions from India. This tool plays a crucial role in automation, particularly in cancer contouring and planning, and is becoming an essential companion for radiology. AI-Rad Companion is also expanding its capabilities into cancer care identification.

In addition, in a collaborative effort between India and global teams, the company has developed AIDAN, an intelligent imaging platform integrated into PET-CT systems that eliminates the need for ECGs. This task once required manual placement by technicians. 

Simultaneously, the company is making strides in theranostics, a combination of diagnostics and therapy, particularly in molecular imaging. 

The company is steadily progressing towards greater integration across its portfolio, with a strong focus on product management. Notably, the global software leader for XP is based at the Bengaluru centre, alongside many other global functions. The ultimate goal, as Kalavathi pointed out, is to adopt a digital twin model—not just for patients but also for operational twins—which will improve hospital availability and help meet Service Level Agreements (SLA) with clients. 

As part of its AI-based expansion, the company established a Centre of Competence (CoC) within the DC to concentrate on AI development. It also started a GenAI Centre of Competence to enhance the productivity of development processes.

Talent in India

Previously, in an interview with AIM, Raja Jamalamadaka, country head and board director at Roche Information Solutions India, stressed that despite efforts by the government and research bodies to bridge the gap in AI training, the disconnect between academia and industry expectations persists. 

He added that many companies compensate for this by investing in induction programs and internal skill-building initiatives.

As Kalavathi pointed out, Siemens Healthineers aims to close the gap between academia and industry by sending industry professionals to engage with academic institutions. Moreover, the company is exploring ways to collaborate with institutions such as Manipal Academy of Higher Education to improve the syllabus and ensure it aligns with current industry needs. The company is also partnering with NASSCOM to focus on upskilling initiatives.