The Current Product Engineering Scenario in India


The Current Product Engineering Scenario in India

Sanjay is a seasoned industry professional with over 35 years of experience across diverse engineering functions. Before incepting MSys Technologies in 2007, he handled key responsibilities across an array of companies such as DCM Data Systems, American Megatrends, iVivity, Scentric, Pramana, FarCare, and Clogeny. Siliconindia recently got a chance to interact with Sanjay, wherein he shared his insights about the current product engineering market, opportunities, and various other aspects. Below are the excerpts from the exclusive interview

What are your thoughts on the current Product Engineering landscape in India?

The product engineering space in India is currently undergoing some major shifts. Over the last few years, India has been making a rapid transition from being a service economy to a product design economy, not only in software but in other verticals as well. Post covid, while a few markets like the US did slow down, they are also trying to create more product engineering opportunities for India. Instead of creating this interaction between US and India teams, they are finding a product and asking the India team to design it from the scratch. We are in a phase where dependence on India for complete product design is increasing from start to end. This is a pleasant welcome sign for companies like us in the product engineering space.

What are some of the latest technologies currently disrupting the Product Engineering space? Explain a few use cases.

ChatGPT or AI, has been one of the most talked-about technology in recent times. AI is a disruptive technology that will have a massive impact on the product engineering space. This is because every product being designed now must have an AI component. We, as a company, have been fortunate to be at the forefront of AI technology for the last 3-4 years.

India’s foray now is not just limited to software; there has been an increased focus on the semiconductor design & manufacturing segment in India. One of the major reasons China became the most sought-after market for product engineering in hardware equipment for the last couple of decades was its vast investments in the semiconductor space. Post covid, people realize the China Plus 1 strategy, wherein companies like Apple are moving some of their production units to India. Given such encouraging developments, India is well on its way to establishing its stronghold in the global product engineering space.

What role does Product Engineering play in the ongoing Industry 4.0 scenario?

Product engineering is increasing the ability of any OEM or brand’s ability to be able to deliver more products to market by significantly decreasing their time-to-market durations. Although India is lagging behind China in  product engineering, it offers OEMs an opportunity to leap-frog into Industry 4.0. Despite being an excellent hub for Industry 2.0 and Industry 3.0, Indian businesses have been showcased a laid-back attitude regarding Industry 4.0. Thus, Industry 4.0 is offering a great opportunity for India to leap-frog into product engineering and evolve into one of the finest among the global markets.

How does the product engineering market in India vary as compared to the market abroad? What are some of the key aspects India can inculcate to improve the industry?

Indian workforce has been predominantly trained with a service economy mindset. Companies like MSys are now switching to product engineering and training their workforce  to work from a product perspective rather than a service perspective. Although India is slow yet steady in this process, there exists a lot more potential for great things to be done in the market. Inculcating this mindset among our engineers right from the education stage will go a long way in helping the industry transform and evolve. Educationists and policymakers in India must help focus our workforce towards having a product engineering mindset. It is very encouraging for us to see the Indian government’s focus and investments in the semiconductor space. The China Plus 1 strategy is here to stay, and India will soon become the most sought-after market for product engineering. Thus, it is safe to say that the future looks very bright for the Indian product engineering industry.

Give us your opinion on how the Indian product engineering space will evolve in the near future.

Keeping in mind the uncertainties that the Covid pandemic brought, the world is looking for a new hub for product engineering. India is incredibly well prepared for this and perfectly positioned to fill the void. Thus, many companies like ours are preparing themselves for the massive future opportunities for product engineering in India.