India should expand manufacturing base by taking advantage of supply chain shift: Punit Renjen, incoming chairman, SAP
India has a tremendous opportunity to expand its manufacturing base due to the current supply chain relocation triggered by geopolitical situation, and the country should grab the opportunity with both hands, says Punit Renjen, CEO-emeritus of Deloitte Global and the incoming chairman of SAP.
In an interview to ET's Surabhi Agarwal & Bodhisatva Ganguli, he also talks about his «second innings» at SAP, and how the enterprise software major will significantly expand its India base from the current 17-18% of workforce. He believes that this is India's century and AI will help India further bridge the skills and education gap. Edited Excerpts:
How has the transition been from an audit/consultancy business to SAP, which is a storied enterprise software company?
I'm a big cricket fan.
So, I will say it's like starting a second innings. The transition has been excellent. I've known SAP for 30 years.
I'm the incoming chairman and I am the CEO-emeritus at Deloitte. I spent 36 years and they went by in a flash. It was a wonderful experience, a wonderful innings and now it's another season and something else and a different role.
I did take time off.
I took a good four or five months off with my son. I brought him to India. He did a project on the Partition.
We travelled, we went to Bhutan, so I spent time with my family, I eased into the transition.
There's been this whole episode concerning E&Y, which has been widely reported. What are your thoughts on whether audit and consultancy should be split?
I can say that when I was in the seat, I firmly believed that the model that exists is good for the investing public. It's good for our clients.
