P&G Taps India's Tech Talent Pool to Drive Global Operations

Procter & Gamble (P&G) is betting big on India's talent pool to drive its global tech operations. The company's global chief information officer, Seth Cohen, has been impressed with the rapid adaptation of Indian universities to new technologies, which he believes will help connect education more closely with business needs.

Cohen, who has visited India about 25 times, notes that P&G is expanding its technology work in the country, where it sees both a major talent pool and a market offering lessons for global operations. The company is using experiences from India's mix of quick commerce, digital commerce, and high-frequency stores to develop technology capabilities deployable in other markets.

P&G is leveraging India's unique retail landscape to improve its inventory management, product assortment, and consumer engagement strategies. For instance, the company is using algorithms to optimize finished-goods flows and predict where products need to be positioned in dark stores, which can require different product assortments based on neighbourhood-level analytics.

Cohen believes that India's quick-commerce market is forcing P&G to make more granular decisions about inventory, as consumers increasingly expect products to reach them within 10 minutes. The company is also studying the broader path consumers take from social media to digital commerce, aiming to use search and location capabilities to provide relevant information and facilitate conversions.