Inside Arundhati Bhattacharya's billion-dollar makeover of Salesforce India

Mint

3 days ago

Mumbai: When Arundhati Bhattacharya took charge of the India operations of Salesforce, one of the world's largest customer relationship management companies, in April 2020, she struggled to understand the value she could add.
In fact, many people within the company had the same question, and doubt.
It's not the kind of beginning one would expect from someone of Bhattacharya's stature. Before stepping into the tech world, she had carved out a formidable legacy in Indian banking. As the first woman chairperson of State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, she steered the state-owned institution through historic consolidations—including the largest domestic bank merger—and earned a reputation as one of India's most powerful corporate leaders.
Bhattacharya was a career banker with 40 years in the industry—she joined SBI in 1977. The unusual turn in her professional trajectory, three years after her retirement from SBI, therefore, raised eyebrows.
'Traditionally, an SBI chairman never takes up executive roles post-retirement, especially not in private companies," notes a former SBI managing director who worked directly under her. 'It's seen as beneath the statesman-like status that comes with the position. Bhattacharya's decision was unthinkable in the normal course," the executive, who didn't want to be identified, adds.
Initially, being the chief executive officer (CEO) of an enterprise software firm was quite hard, Bhattacharya admits.
At the time, Salesforce's India business was relatively modest. She took over just when the covid-19 lockdowns were beginning. The company had generated ₹1,505 crore in revenue and net profits of ₹130 crore for the year ended March 2020, according to Tracxn. It employed a few thousand people, mostly in offshore development centres. The Indian market was a small dot in Salesforce's $17 billion global canvas. In fact, the company hadn't even appointed a CEO for India since entering the country in 2005.
Fast forward to March 2024, and Salesforce India has emerged as a powerhouse in its own right. Revenue soared six times to ₹9,117 crore, crossing the $1 billion mark, while profits grew nearly sevenfold to ₹888 crore, the company had disclosed. Today, it is one of the largest enterprise software providers in the country. The India organisation has grown to 13,300 employees from 2,500 in 2020, when Bhattacharya took charge.
'In the last decade, Indian companies have evolved from cost-based to productivity-based operations," says Manpreet Singh Ahuja, chief client and alliance officer at PwC India, a consulting company.'Salesforce was in the right place at the right time—and yes, the new leadership played a key role in setting the stage for accelerated growth."
Bhattacharya now has a new role. In February, she was promoted as the CEO of the newly formed South Asia Operating Unit, giving her oversight over countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Philippines. This business region is growing fast.
'We are lucky because we run a highly diversified portfolio of businesses across industries and across geographies. We saw some momentum in Canada. The whole of South Asia is on fire. The whole APAC (Asia-Pacific) is on fire…," Miguel Milano, president and chief revenue officer of Salesforce commented during an analyst call on 28 May this year.
In the first quarter fiscal 2026, which ended 30 April, the APAC region totalled $1 billion in revenue, growing at 11% over the year-ago quarter, higher than the Americas and Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
So, how did Arundhati Bhattacharya script one of the most remarkable corporate transformation stories in recent years? Her leadership didn't just grow Salesforce's bottom line. It redefined how global tech companies could succeed in India. The answer lies not just in strategy or execution, but in a bold reimagining of what experience, adaptability, and vision can deliver—even when they come from the most unexpected places.
Search for a builder
Salesforce entered India in 2005, six years after its founding in the US. Like many of its global peers at the time—including Microsoft and SAP—its initial focus was to establish an offshore development centre rather than invest in building a large domestic sales operation. This decision aligned with the broader industry trend but also reflected a cautious approach to a market still grappling with the concept of paid software.
In those early years, Indian businesses were reluctant to pay annual licensing fees for packaged software, and software piracy was rampant. Microsoft, for instance, frequently voiced frustrations about widespread unauthorized use of its Office suite.
Against this backdrop, Salesforce's dollar-denominated billing made it appear expensive to Indian customers. This pricing model, combined with limited local engagement, led to a weak partner ecosystem and sluggish traction in the country.
Despite the slow uptake, Salesforce saw long-term potential. In 2015, it partnered with market intelligence firm IDC, which published a report predicting that Salesforce's presence in India would catalyze the creation of half a million jobs—an ambitious but attention-grabbing projection.
The following year, the company announced plans to open a significant offshore development centre in Hyderabad, targeting a headcount of 1,000 employees within four years. Yet, it wasn't until 2019 that Salesforce made a decisive shift in strategy, creating the position of country head for India. It was then that the company approached Bhattacharya, marking a turning point in its India journey.
It took five months for Bhattacharya to accept the offer. Before making her decision, she traveled to California to meet Salesforce's leadership team, including founder and CEO Marc Benioff.
Although she lacked direct experience in selling software or cloud services, Bhattacharya believed she aligned with Benioff's vision. 'I had already led a large organization, overseen planning, strategy, and execution, and was deeply involved in the digital transformation of the bank," she recalls. 'He was looking for a builder, someone he could trust to shape the company's growth in India. Perhaps that's why they approached me."
She recounted her first meeting with Benioff. 'Marc asked me why Salesforce ranked only 37th among India's best places to work. I didn't have an immediate answer. But I told him that if I joined, I'd make it a priority. Because I, too, believe that employee experience directly impacts how well you serve your customers."
In the 2025 edition of 'India's best companies to work for', compiled by Great Place To Work, a company that certifies top workplaces, Salesforce ranked at No. 16.
The former managing director of SBI quoted above says that Bhattacharya, even when at the bank, didn't care much about hierarchy and was always open to ideas. For example, if there was a loan recovery to be done, she would personally get involved, talk with a promoter and just won't leave the matter to the circle head as was the practice before she took over as the chair. She was both approachable and collaborative—leadership traits she brought to the table at Salesforce, too.
Success @ 80%
When Bhattacharya joined, one thing she didn't have to worry about was the software capabilities of Salesforce. The company's global revenue had consistently grown by 20% quarter over quarter for five years, with an even steeper growth rate of over 30% at the onset of the pandemic as more businesses pushed for digitization. With that foundation in place, it was left to Bhattacharya's expertise to build the organization and processes necessary for the India story.
'It's up to the leader to make a case for the country and advocate for the chance to execute a strategy," Bhattacharya explains. 'There were plenty of internal hurdles to overcome, but we proved we could do it."
Her early success became evident when some of the key barriers to adoption were quickly addressed. Salesforce eliminated its dollar-based pricing model, allowing customers to pay in rupees, which also enabled them to claim credit for Goods and Services Tax (GST)—a cost-saving benefit not available under the previous system. Pricing was also adjusted, with more flexible pay-as-you-go models introduced.
'Previously, Salesforce was seen as a rigid organization with little room for customization, but that has changed dramatically," says Shubham Sharma, founder of Novabiz, a consultancy that works with Salesforce.
Bhattacharya also brought a unique perspective to customer relationship management (CRM) software. While at SBI, she had overseen several CRM implementations, but she found that these efforts were often painful, and the bank never fully realized the benefits. As a result, ensuring a thorough understanding of clients' needs and successful implementation became one of her top priorities at Salesforce.
She made a simple yet impactful change: Instead of celebrating the booking of large orders, which was the tradition, the company now only marks success when 80% of the project is up and running.
'It wasn't just about closing a sale anymore; it was about adoption at the customer's end," she says. This shift also encouraged collaboration among the various teams involved in implementation.
The cloud pitch
Bhattacharya also eased Salesforce's entry into C-Suite conversations. Initially, decisions around CRM adoption started in the marketing departments and ended with the chief information officer (CIO) at Indian enterprises. However, Salesforce's cloud-based infrastructure required companies to store data on public cloud platforms, something that many Indian companies were hesitant to do. To tackle this, Bhattacharya focused on acquiring clients in the banking and financial services sectors, which were particularly resistant to the idea of public cloud adoption. Her simple argument to prospective clients: SBI, India's largest bank, uses a public cloud. So, why can't you?
'Today, Salesforce operates exclusively through cloud service providers like AWS (Amazon Web Services)," says Rajeev Ranjan, associate research director at IDC, a research firm.
The Salesforce chief next created vertical business teams, such as automotive and healthcare, to address specific industry needs. Top automotive brands like Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Royal Enfield, as well as healthcare giants like Apollo Hospitals, use the company's software products.
'The scale of the healthcare ecosystem, which includes hospitals, pharma companies, drug retail chains, and insurance providers, is massive. This led Salesforce to launch a health cloud five years ago," says Deepak Pargaonkar, head of solution engineering (healthcare) at Salesforce.
There are 14 verticals today and this has allowed individual teams to grow as well.
Spreading the net
Beyond the revenue numbers, Bhattacharya's biggest contribution may well have come from how she has grown the extended Salesforce organization in the country. To understand, we need to take a step back.
Though enterprise software like Salesforce, SAP and Microsoft Dynamics (a cloud-based suite of business applications) are sold per licensed user with an annual fee, their implementation within user companies require a lot of support. The enterprise software vendors themselves don't provide implementation services, or even when they do, could be very expensive.
The implementation work involves migration of existing data to the new enterprise software, creating company specific dashboards and creating interfaces with the external clients. For example, while Royal Enfield has implemented Salesforce, many of its dealers use Microsoft Dynamics. The data from its dealers would need to be ported to Royal Enfield's systems seamlessly. This implementation work is done by third-party system integrators.
One metric to determine the heft of a technology product company is to look at the depth and breadth of its partner ecosystem.
Most large IT services companies, like TCS, Wipro and Infosys, are already its system integrators in the US market. Bhattacharya focussed on building an ecosystem for the Indian market. Salesforce worked closely with big consultants like PwC and Accenture in creating domestic practices. It also engaged with smaller system integrators who could do business with India's vast swathe of small companies.
In addition, Salesforce organized developer conferences, incentivised star performers and created a startup ecosystem by partnering with 300 startups at the last count. These are essentially startups that couldn't afford Salesforce but wanted top notch CRM software. Salesforce doesn't invest capital but gives away its software. In the process, it gets to develop more use cases and work with smaller businesses.
'Our count of the extended ecosystem—the number of people Salesforce touches—is now in the millions in India," says Sanket Atal, managing director and head of India operations at Salesforce.
While Atal heads the India operations, which includes all offices and development centres, Mankiran Chowbey, who Bhattacharya had hired from SAP India in 2022, recently took over as the managing director of domestic sales.
In short, Bhattacharya's second innings had a good run. She has grown the business, expanded the organization, and bought in the next line of managers. Not the kind to take a backseat, it will be interesting to watch her plans for South Asia, her third innings.
The next couple of years will be crucial. Salesforce is much larger now in India. Keeping the high growth rate going won't be easy. Market watchers also say that the new role could be more demanding. India and the Indian market was her backyard; here, she was widely recognised and celebrated—advantages she won't carry forward in South Asia. Bigger roles bring bigger challenges.