Costco wants its India tech operation to grow beyond Hyderabad

Costco says it sees room to expand its India technology presence beyond Hyderabad, as one of the world's largest membership-only retailers speeds up its international growth 1

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The warehouse club chain's first global capability centre, in Hyderabad, sits at the heart of that plan, playing a key role in AI and cybersecurity work 1

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. Costco's chief information and digital officer, Javier Polit, told Reuters the company plans to grow its international business faster than before, with India getting more of it. "We're going to grow our business internationally at a greater velocity than we have been in the past. So there'll be more presence in this geography for sure." 1

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A small centre with big plans

The Hyderabad centre employs more than 70 people and, per Polit, is expected to reach several hundred staff within five to six years. He gave no specific hiring target 1

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. Costco set up the centre with help from a consulting firm, and Reuters reported last year that it could eventually employ about 1,000 people 1

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Costco also expects its technology workforce to shift from roughly an even split of employees and contractors to about 75% employees over time, as it builds more in-house capability 1

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Capability centres began as cost-cutting outposts for multinationals; they now handle higher-value work in technology, finance and product development 1

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Why AI is pulling the work to India

By Polit's own account, AI has delivered productivity gains of up to 60% in some Costco technology projects. Those gains, he said, prompted the company to develop more tools in India for use worldwide 1

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. One is a geofencing tool developed in Hyderabad that spots customers approaching a store, so check-in and checkout move faster 1

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The shift tracks a wider change in how multinationals use India: capability centres that once existed mainly to cut costs now turn out product work, and Costco's is starting to do exactly that 1

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