Driving Agentic AI at Scale: Adesso Expands Operations to Pune and Chennai

The German IT services company’s planned offices will advance adesso’s Agentic AI capabilities while showing how India’s established technology cities can play different but connected roles in global digital transformation.

India’s technology story is told through the rise of a single hub. The next phase may be more distributed. Cities with experience are becoming part of a global delivery network, allowing companies to place work where the right skills exist. Pune and Chennai are examples. One brings an enterprise technology and engineering base; the other has capabilities in data, artificial intelligence and the modernisation of older systems.

German IT services company adesso is preparing to build on those complementary strengths. It plans to inaugurate an independent office in Chennai on August 3 and open another in Pune on August 5. The locations will expand the company’s Indian network and strengthen its ability to deliver Agentic AI solutions, combining autonomous AI agents with human expertise, for clients in India as well as international markets.

The significance of a two-city move is not the number of offices. Transformation programmes rarely depend on one skill. They may require software engineers, cloud specialists, data teams, testing professionals and people who understand a client’s industry. A location network can help bring those abilities together while giving companies access to different talent bases.

Pune’s value lies in its combination of enterprise IT knowledge and engineering experience. Its wider automotive and manufacturing environment also makes it relevant to businesses working on connected systems, modern platforms and operational change. Chennai offers a different mix. The city has established expertise in data, AI and legacy modernisation, areas that become important when companies want to improve existing systems without disrupting the business processes that depend on them.

Adesso intends to position both offices as delivery and innovation locations for Agentic AI, cloud architecture and intelligent automation. Through its Agentic Scale approach, the company aims to use autonomous software agents and AI-driven development frameworks to accelerate software engineering while retaining human oversight for strategy, governance and quality assurance. The planned service range includes custom software development, quality assurance and testing, DevOps, cloud management, data modernisation, AI, Salesforce solutions and SAP transformation. The company expects the teams to work across sectors including automotive, financial services and life sciences.

This is connected to the growth of Global Capability Centres in India. GCCs are in-house units through which international companies manage technology and business functions while retaining expertise. According to adesso’s announcement, more companies from Germany, Austria and Switzerland are establishing such centres in India. That creates demand for technology partners that can work close to their teams and understand the expectations of European headquarters.

The new adesso offices will not themselves be captive GCCs belonging to one multinational. They will serve multiple clients. Their role is better understood as part of the surrounding capability ecosystem: providing specialised teams that can support a company’s India centre, connect with its global technology organisation and contribute to transformation projects that cross countries and functions.

Chennai already offers an early example of this model. adesso India has operated the Exasol Tech Hub in the city since 2025 for German analytics software provider Exasol. The hub supports work linked to Exasol’s analytics engine and its development. The office planned for August will have a wider purpose. It will be adesso India’s first independent, cross-client location in Chennai rather than a centre dedicated to a single company.

The company’s purpose is to improve the core business processes of companies and public organisations through consulting and customised software. Its approach combines industry knowledge, vendor-neutral technology expertise and methods for delivering software projects, with Agentic AI helping teams automate complex workflows and accelerate development. This matters because digital transformation is not only a technology exercise. New systems must clearly fit the work people do, address a business problem and remain reliable, with human expertise continuing to guide critical decisions.

adesso co-founder and Supervisory Board Chair Prof. Dr. Volker Gruhn has said that “IT belongs at the decision-makers’ table.” The idea is relevant to India’s changing role in global technology. If Indian teams are involved only after important choices have been made elsewhere, their contribution remains limited. When they participate earlier, they can help assess technologies, identify practical risks and shape solutions around real operating needs.

For India, the value of such expansion should be judged by the quality of responsibility it creates. Work in cloud architecture, AI, data engineering, enterprise systems and software quality can help professionals build specialised careers. International projects can also give teams experience of different industries, regulatory environments and customer expectations. Over time, that exposure can support stronger technical leadership and a deeper understanding of how global businesses operate.

There is a local benefit as well. Investment across Indian cities can widen access to skilled roles and reduce dependence on one crowded technology corridor. It can also encourage organisations to develop regional leadership instead of treating every decision as a headquarters responsibility. The result is more meaningful when local teams own outcomes, not merely tasks.

That outcome is not automatic. Offices described as innovation hubs must receive work that justifies the label. Companies need to invest in training, responsible AI practices, collaboration and clear career paths. They must also give teams enough authority to solve problems instead of measuring success only through delivery volume. Without those conditions, geographical expansion can add capacity without adding much capability.

The forthcoming Pune and Chennai offices offer adesso access to two mature but distinct technology environments. For European clients building or expanding operations in India, the network is intended to provide closer support for complex transformation work. For Indian professionals, the opportunity lies in moving further into engineering, product thinking and business responsibility.

The inauguration ceremonies will mark the start of the two locations, not the result. Their real importance will become visible in the kind of Agentic AI and transformation work entrusted to them and the decisions their teams are able to influence. If Pune’s engineering depth and Chennai’s data and modernisation strengths are used together, adesso’s expansion could demonstrate a larger point: India’s advantage increasingly comes from the variety of capabilities across its cities, not from scale alone.