On the twelfth floor of one of Stockholm’s iconic Haymarket office buildings (Hötorget) overlooking the cityscape, Shreerang Talekar has been busy lately honing his knowledge about Sweden’s innovation and business environment.
When he greets Business Sweden for an interview, he is just a few weeks into his new role heading up the Nordic operations at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) – the global IT consultancy giant which is helping more than 30 of Sweden’s most valued enterprises transform their operations.
“The vibrant spirit of the Nordics exemplified by Sweden creates a lot of business opportunities for companies like us. The heartbeat of innovation is found here,” Shreerang says.
With a career at TCS that spans more than two decades and recent stints in Germany, Denmark and Norway, he appears inspired and energised by the opportunities that lie ahead in his new homebase.
“Sweden has had many firsts in manufacturing technology, industrial processing, automotive, engineering, design and quality. There are many exciting brands here that are reinventing their business to stay competitive. All of this gives us confidence that Sweden is the right place to invest in.”
EYE TO THE FUTURE
TCS, part of the Tata Group conglomerate, first established a presence in Sweden back in the early nineties and has steadily expanded its operations while pushing the boundaries of tech and innovation.
Today, the company has more than 20,000 consultants dedicated to servicing clients across the Nordic region. But TCS is not alone in its decision to bet big on the Nordic market and Sweden in particular.
Other multinational Indian IT corporations such as Infosys and Wipro have recently invested heavily in their Swedish operations to ramp up local service offerings and build competency centres. The days when US consultancy firms were the dominant players have faded.
All of this comes as no surprise to Shreerang Talekar who emphasises that Indian and Swedish skills in technology and engineering are perfectly matched to develop next-generation services.
“In this era of transformation no company can reinvent its business model alone,” Shreerang continues. “Sweden has cutting edge skills in engineering, a thriving tech scene and world class brands that anyone would love to have in their portfolio.”
“At TCS, we offer Swedish customers scale, flexibility and innovation that helps them bring new concepts to life with a global reach.”
Photo by Jon Flobrant on Unsplash
A HUB FOR EXPLORING NEW IDEAS
For TCS, which was recently recognised as the fastest growing IT services brand globally by Brand Finance, Stockholm provides the ideal collaborative environment.
The company’s Swedish operations go well beyond just selling solutions. A good example is InnoHub, TCS’s innovation hub located just a few minutes away at Epicenter.
“We collaborate with local startups and invite customers to join so we can imagine the future together and co-create. We’ve done this for Swedish logistics companies, travel companies and retail companies,” Shreerang explains.
“All of my expectations about Sweden as a digital frontrunner have been manifested in everyday life since the moment I arrived. This gives me a strong reaffirmation of the opportunities.
“Sweden has big established unicorns but also many smaller tech companies with bright minds, and the government is strongly committed to infrastructure and R&D programmes, which is all very motivating.”
When asked which technology trends customers in Sweden are currently paying most attention to, Shreerang responds unequivocally: AI and cybersecurity.
The forward-thinking culture of Sweden’s business community, he says, opens up multiple pockets of opportunity.
“All of our customers in Sweden are exploring what’s next for their industry. TCS has worked on AI and automation for the past 7 to 8 years, but it’s still early days out in the market. The big impact will only be felt when more companies scale the use cases at an enterprise level.”
“And that’s what we do. We help companies create the right foundations and build skills so they can leverage the full power of AI.”
NURTURING A NEW TALENT BASE
Between 2019 and 2022, Swedish exports to India jumped by 35 per cent and advanced IT talent from India is steadily pouring into Sweden’s industries.
The business ties between Sweden and India are closer than ever. But as Shreerang points out, it’s not just about tapping into each other’s strengths. A major task at hand is to jointly develop the skills of the future.
“Many Swedish companies have a hundred-year legacy and need to retain their competitiveness in today’s experience economy. They are on a journey of reimagination whether it be in the industrial sector, forestry, mining or retail. But there is a considerable skills gap to ensure future success in connected ecosystems,” he says.
“TCS intends to work closely with Swedish universities to help secure future skills supply when it comes to new engineering skills for industrial systems and neural networks.”
RAKING IN THE AWARDS IN SWEDEN
For 15 consecutive years in the Nordics and 11 in Sweden, TCS has ranked first for customer satisfaction in the IT Sourcing Study published by Whitelane Research. Over the same period TCS has been named Top Employer by Top Employers Institute.
What’s the secret behind these recognitions? According to Shreerang, the cornerstone of success lies in empowering employees who come from TCS’s global offices to Sweden on rotating 1-4 year schedules to quickly realise their professional potential on arrival.
“Our employees find it easy to engage with Swedes and language is not a barrier. We help them understand the culture and invest heavily in upskilling as part of our life-long learning academy. Our teams don’t see it as yet another activity but instead feel a strong sense of purpose and pride.”
Shreerang quickly adds that employees are inspired by the vibrant and industry-wide change now taking place in Sweden, both on the digital and sustainability fronts.
“Everyone has a strong feeling that Sweden is a place where you can bring ideas to life.”
By all accounts, and judging by Shreerang Talekar’s passion for the business, it is clear that TCS will have a big role to play in Sweden’s growth and success.
About Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that has been partnering with many of the world’s largest businesses in their transformation journeys for over 56 years. A part of the Tata group, India's largest multinational business group, TCS has over 600,000 of the world’s best-trained consultants in 55 countries.
TCS was established in the Nordics in 1991 and there are more than 20,000 employees who support customers in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark.
