Siemens Digital Industries Software is likely positioning India as the cornerstone of its global expansion, with the country now hosting the German industrial giant’s largest workforce concentration outside its home base. The move comes as the company’s comprehensive digital twin strategy forces competitors into billion-dollar acquisition sprees to keep pace, as mentioned by the company. 

Addressing the Siemens Realize LIVE event, the company executives revealed that India houses the firm’s biggest employee base globally, with close to 10,000 software professionals across various divisions. This represents a significant portion of the company’s 28,000-strong digital industries’ workforce.

The India focus coincides with Siemens racing ahead of its own cloud transformation timeline, with executives disclosing that 50% of business will likely shift to cloud-based revenue by year-end, a full year ahead of schedule.

Cloud Numbers Tell the Story

Robert Jones, chief revenue officer at Siemens Digital Industries Software, shared striking metrics that suggest the company’s Software-as-a-Service pivot is gaining serious momentum. “We have over 23,000 customers that adopted the hybrid SaaS capability [since launching the cloud strategy in fiscal 2021],” he said. 

“Existing customers adopted the hybrid SaaS so they could do some basic data management collaboration…and that’s continuing to grow.”

The transformation appears to be democratising advanced engineering tools. Brenda Discher, CMO of Siemens Digital Industries Software, revealed that 87% of customers transitioning to Siemens’ X cloud portfolio comprise small to medium enterprises. This shift is particularly evident in India and Asia, where numerous smaller companies are adopting technology that was previously accessible only to larger organisations.

More impressive perhaps are the 8,000 enterprise cloud accounts representing over two lakh active users on the company’s X solutions portfolio. “That, to me, is just tremendous,” noted Joe Bohman, executive vice president of PLM Products at Siemens Digital Industries Software. He added that many customers switched from competitive products specifically owing to Siemens’ cloud offering.

Indian Success Stories and Competitive Pressure

Indian companies are already showcasing the potential of Siemens’ integrated approach.

Aether Energy, a leading two-wheeler scooter brand, used the full Siemens suite to bring their new model to market in just 17 months—record time for the company.

Tony Hemmelgarn, president and CEO of Siemens Digital Industries Software, said, “The largest concentration of people we have is in India. We have a broad presence here, including all of our EPA, electronics design automation.”

Other notable success stories include Sedemac, a tier-one auto supplier that achieved a 50% increase in workflow efficiency. Meanwhile, advanced companies like SkyRoot, an aerospace manufacturer and commercial launch service provider for small satellites, are leveraging Siemens’ full lifecycle coverage—from design to testing.

The results haven’t escaped competitors’ notice. Hemmelgarn pointed to Synopsis’ recent $35 billion acquisition of software firm Ansys as evidence that rivals are scrambling to match the capabilities of Siemens. “One knows they’re doing something right in the comprehensive digital twin when the competition is trying to copy what they’re doing,” he remarked.

However, Hemmelgarn claimed such acquisitions may be insufficient. Notably, Synopsis and Ansys, even combined, cannot perform manufacturing simulation or create 3D models—gaps that leave their digital twin offering incomplete compared to Siemens’ comprehensive approach.

Acquisition Strategy and AI Integration

Siemens’ aggressive acquisition strategy, totalling 36 or 37 deals during Hemmelgarn’s tenure, is designed to build what the company calls its “digital currency”. Recent additions include downstream technologies for printed circuit board design and Wevolver for supply chain intelligence.

Moreover, Altair Engineering’s acquisition stands out as particularly strategic for India. Siemens invested $10 billion to acquire Altair Engineering to add advanced simulation, high-performance computing (HPC), data science and AI capabilities to strenghten its industrial software portfolio. 

“Right now, Altair is the leader in computer-aided engineering (CAE) here in India as well as China,” Hemmelgarn noted. The deal filled critical gaps in CAE capabilities, especially nonlinear simulation for sudden impact scenarios.

Looking ahead, Siemens is betting heavily on AI integration across its platform. The company’s approach leverages vast data repositories through Teamcenter and manufacturing systems. 

Hemmelgarn illustrated the potential: “Now, [with AI in place], a new engineer coming into the company has the entire knowledge and the history of anybody that ever machined a part in that company.”

This AI integration, combined with cloud accessibility, could give Siemens a significant advantage over competitors still relying on traditional desktop solutions. The strategy appears to be working—the company expects to hit 50% cloud-based revenue well ahead of its original timeline, whilst competitors rush to acquire capabilities Siemens has been building organically for years.

As manufacturing digitalisation accelerates globally, Siemens’ India-centric approach and comprehensive digital twin strategy likely position the company to capitalise on both local growth and the worldwide shift toward integrated industrial software solutions.

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