Gunjan Samtani’s Post

As the dust settles on the election results in India, the opportunity set for the country continues to be in focus. A strengthening manufacturing muscle, financialization of household savings and improving corporate profitability point to an enduring growth trend, as highlighted by Hiren Dasani, CFA: https://lnkd.in/g8qQVQEE In our Bengaluru and Hyderabad offices, it was an exciting week with Russell Horwitz, Goldman Sachs’ chief of staff, spending time with our teams here. Organizational connectivity, global sponsorship and our people’s immense contribution to the firm remain integral to our success as impactful global transformation hubs for Goldman Sachs.

Generative Artificial Intelligence is at the forefront of the current wave of digital revolution. As engineering hubs of global organizations, Global Capability Centers are well positioned to not only emerge as powerhouses of innovation and talent in the age of GenAI, but to truly become 'Global Transformation Hubs'. Unlocking this will require us to come together as an industry, along with academia, and ask ourselves the right questions: What is our responsibility towards GenAI, and towards a world that is more resilient, inclusive and sustainable? How do we contribute to making India a leading voice in the global development and deployment of GenAI? I penned my thoughts in a recent op-ed on this topic: https://lnkd.in/gHjZ_2CR

The Indian Global Capability Center (GCC) has evolved over the years to become a powerhouse of talent, innovation and thought leadership. For the forward, GCCs are well placed to drive development and adoption of emerging technologies for global organizations. Importantly for the country, GCCs continue to be a growing pillar of strength for India’s economy, providing a cushion to the country’s external balances.   Goldman Sachs’ Bengaluru and Hyderabad offices’ growth reflect the evolution and opportunity set for the India GCC industry. With full stack presence of all businesses and a third of the firm’s engineers, our people are at the heart of the firm’s digital transformation and the offices have several global roles based in India, commensurate with the impact of our teams.   It was a pleasure to discuss these themes and more with Debjani Ghosh, President of NASSCOM and Sunil Gopinath, CEO of Rakuten India at the 2024 NASSCOM GCC Conclave this week. Our collective attention to the investments in GCC talent will be critical as we unlock the potential of this industry. https://lnkd.in/gWJPtea6

‘Stronger for longer’ continues to be the theme of India’s robust growth. In their recent article, our Asset & Wealth Management team highlights the contribution of economic reforms, a young population, and maturing public and private capital markets to India's forward opportunity. Goldman Sachs Research also expects India’s services exports to increase from $340 billion in 2023 to $800 billion by 2030, reaching ~11% of India’s GDP. Santanu Sengupta spotlighted the country’s strong track record on this front, with India's share in global exports increasing to 4.6% in 2023 from 2% in 2005. The boost from services exports is expected to make India's external sector relatively resilient to supply-side shocks and reduce volatility in the Indian Rupee. A key driver of growth for India’s services exports is the rise of Global Capability Centres, where revenues have quadrupled over 13 years to $46 billion in FY23. Goldman Sachs’ Bengaluru and Hyderabad offices have contributed to the evolution of this sector, with a focus on long-term career opportunities and global roles and platforms for our people. Stronger For Longer: Investing In India's Economic Ascent: https://lnkd.in/gMeCWeJH On India’s Growing Services Exports: https://lnkd.in/gMQ5i6up

On the back of a strong first quarter earnings announcement, it was fantastic to hear from Denis Coleman, chief financial officer of Goldman Sachs at the Bengaluru and Hyderabad townhall. Denis highlighted the firm's unwavering focus on executing on our strategy, and delivering for our clients and shareholders. He spoke about our offices' contributions to the firm's priorities across client experience, risk management and operating efficiencies, leveraging engineering and execution expertise. Looking ahead, I am excited about the continued evolution of our Bengaluru and Hyderabad offices! 

Goldman Sachs research expects Generative AI to have significant economic potential, with a 10-15% cumulative long-run boost to GDP globally, over a ten year period. As the pace of change accelerates with AI, our collective focus on staying ahead of the curve and investing in the skills of the future continues to be pivotal, and academia is at the center of this.   It was fantastic to be at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi to inaugurate their Annual Career Festival. The event provided an opportunity to engage with faculty, researchers and students on the topic of Generative AI, its implications on technology, markets and regulations, and the role of India. A special thanks to the Director of IIT Delhi, Prof. Rangan Banerjee, and Dean (Academics) Prof. Narayana Kuru and the faculty for having me.

Clients are the center of everything that we do at Goldman Sachs. The One Goldman Sachs initiative harnesses the power of the entire firm to bring an integrated and comprehensive approach to serving our clients. It was truly the power of One Goldman Sachs in our Bengaluru office recently, bringing together global leaders from various businesses and regions who spent time with our clients and people.   It was a pleasure to have our teams engage with Brian Lee, Chief Risk Officer, Kevin Sneader, president of Asia Pacific Ex-Japan, George Lee, co-head of the Office of Applied Innovation, Marie Louise Kirk, CAO of Asia and head of Engineering for Asia Pacific, and Ke (Rick) Li, head of FICC Desk Strats at Goldman Sachs among several other leaders. In the spirit of One GS, we also had the pleasure of hearing from Meena Lakdawala-Flynn, co-head of Private Wealth Management and recently announced co-head of One GS.

India’s significant economic opportunity is underpinned by a growing adoption of technology, and the depth of STEM talent that is building cutting edge solutions for India and the world. Integral to this opportunity is our ability to take everyone along on this journey, ensuring an equitable, inclusive growth story for the country.   At Goldman Sachs, we developed the TechLabs program to bridge the digital divide that impacts children from lower socio-economic backgrounds. In partnership with Rotary, we provide foundational computer education to government schools across Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai, aiming to reach over 50,000 students over the coming years.   Since inception in 2019, we have reached over 15,000 students, many of who were first time computer users. Earlier this week, we had the privilege of hosting a group of 70 government school students from our current program in our Bengaluru office, also as part of the Goldman Sachs Community Teamworks project. They spent the day with us interacting with our leaders and volunteers, and it was incredible to attend the presentations they made - I come away energized and excited about the up and coming talent of this country!

Goldman Sachs’ Asset & Wealth Management (AWM) business continues to be a leading global active asset manager with over $2.8 trillion in assets under supervision. In 2023, the business saw consistent growth in its durable revenue base and we reached a milestone by raising over $250 billion in Alternatives, surpassing our 5-year fundraising target a year in advance.   During our discussion at the Bengaluru and Hyderabad townhall, Marc Nachmann, global head of AWM at Goldman Sachs, shared his views on the continued opportunity for the AWM business globally, while recognizing the contribution of our Bengaluru and Hyderabad teams to its overall strategy. He also covered the larger potential for India, and the AWM opportunity therein, as India’s cohort of ‘affluent’ consumers with per capita income exceeding $10,000 expands to 100 million by 2027, according to Goldman Sachs Research.