India is already among the top 10 markets globally for Siemens Digital Industries Software, and the company is aiming even higher as the country’s automotive and manufacturing sectors accelerate their digital transformation.
“I would like it to be,” said Matthew Thomas, CEO and Managing Director, Siemens Digital Industries Software India in an exclusive conversation with Autocar Professional, when asked whether India could become one of Siemens’ top five global markets. “The market is buoyant… hopefully we don’t have to wait a decade. Maybe it’s faster.”
Thomas said India’s growth is being fuelled by a rapidly expanding economy, increasing adoption of digital engineering technologies and the country’s growing role in global product development.
“Today we’re talking about design in India, make in India and manufacture in India. That paradigm is changing, and it will continue to change,” he said.
China Speed is Raising the Bar
One of the biggest shifts, according to Thomas, is the pressure on manufacturers to dramatically accelerate product development.
Referring to the rapid development cycles demonstrated by Chinese automakers, he said customers are increasingly benchmarking themselves against that pace.
“People are saying, ‘If China could do it, why can’t I?’” Thomas said.
He added that customers are no longer willing to accept traditional development timelines and are instead asking for productivity improvements of 30 to 50 percent.
“They are challenging us every day,” Thomas said. “They are asking how they can develop products faster, better and at lower total cost.”
Engineering Silos are Disappearing
Thomas believes software-defined vehicles are fundamentally changing how products are engineered, breaking down the traditional boundaries between mechanical, electrical, electronics and software engineering.
“The line is blurred. It’s all one,” he said. “In four or five years, I think it will be one integrated piece.”
The shift is also being reinforced by the convergence of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), which manages a product from design through manufacturing and service, and Electronic Design Automation (EDA), the software used to design semiconductors, electronic systems and printed circuit boards.
Tony Hemmelgarn, President and CEO, Siemens Digital Industries Software, said software-defined products are naturally bringing the two domains together.
“If you think about what software-defined means, it leads to this convergence of PLM and EDA,” Hemmelgarn said. “The software is running on a chip, and increasingly those chips are becoming more application-specific. That’s what’s pushing these domains together.”
According to Thomas, engineering teams will increasingly design, simulate and validate vehicles through one integrated workflow instead of separate mechanical, electrical, electronics and software processes, helping reduce development time and improve product quality.
He said digital twins are central to that transformation because they allow engineers to validate products virtually before building physical prototypes.
“The greatest benefit lies in reducing new product introduction time,” Thomas said. “Instead of physically testing millions of kilometres, you can virtually simulate those conditions and understand how the product will perform.”
The Role of AI
Artificial intelligence is expected to further accelerate engineering by helping automate repetitive tasks, improve design decisions and shorten development cycles.
Thomas said AI will increasingly help engineers make faster design decisions, predict the next engineering step and improve productivity by working alongside engineers rather than replacing them.
The convergence is also beginning to reshape how engineering teams are organised and the skills companies increasingly value.
Ankur Gupta, Executive Vice President, Siemens EDA IC Products, said customer demand is increasingly driving engineers to work across traditional disciplines rather than in isolated domains.
“We need people who are experts and have depth, but at the same time have a span across a wide spectrum,” Gupta said, adding that companies are increasingly encouraging engineers to develop broader cross-domain understanding while retaining deep expertise in their core areas.
For India’s automotive ecosystem, spanning OEMs, suppliers and startups, Thomas believes technology is becoming a competitive differentiator rather than simply an engineering tool.
“Companies want to focus on building products, not managing technology,” he said, adding that digital engineering platforms will become increasingly critical as vehicle complexity continues to grow.