New Delhi, Sept. 21 -- CTO Anand Varadarajan says Chennai hub will bring more third-party work in-house and become part of Starbucks' global technology footprint
Starbucks is setting up its first technology hub in India in Chennai, with plans to create around 800 technology jobs, as the coffee major looks to build more of its technology capabilities in-house and connect its India operations more closely with its global technology organisation.
The company on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tamil Nadu government to establish a Global Capability Centre in Chennai. The centre will operate independently of Starbucks' retail joint venture with Tata Consumer Products and support the company's global business and technology operations.
The Chennai hub is part of Starbucks' broader multi-site technology strategy, rather than a standalone India technology operation. In a post published on Starbucks' website, chief technology officer Anand Varadarajan said the new hub would "support our global business" and work closely with technology and business teams in the US and across the company.
The company also plans to use the India centre to bring more work currently handled by third-party service providers in-house over time.
"Establishing a Starbucks Technology hub in India gives us the opportunity to build a more partner-centric organization which will be created by bringing capability inside Starbucks over time," Varadarajan said.
This marks a shift from viewing India primarily as an external technology services base to building capabilities within Starbucks' own global technology organisation. The company said the move would strengthen the capabilities and talent supporting its partners, coffeehouses and customers worldwide.
Chennai to become part of global technology footprint
Starbucks said the selection of Chennai was driven by access to a deep technology talent pool, strong talent retention, the ability to support its long-term business requirements and alignment with the way its technology teams work across Seattle, Nashville, London and Hong Kong.
"This office will become part of our broader Technology footprint, not a separate or standalone team," Varadarajan said.
The company is still in the early stages of establishing the centre. Planning for local hiring, office readiness and operating processes will begin over the coming months, with recruiting expected to start in the first quarter.
Separately, Varadarajan cited Chennai's skilled technology workforce, relatively low attrition, strong infrastructure and incentives offered by the Tamil Nadu government as factors supporting the choice of the city, according to a state government release.
The Chennai centre will add an India location to Starbucks' technology footprint at a time when the company is building a more distributed technology organisation. Starbucks has technology teams across Seattle, Nashville, London and Hong Kong, with the new India hub intended to work across these locations rather than function independently.
The move also comes as Chennai continues to attract global capability centres from multinational companies. The city accounts for roughly a tenth of India's GCC base and is already home to technology centres of companies including Citi, Barclays and American Express, according to the Tamil Nadu government.
Starbucks' announcement follows Walgreens' recent decision to establish its first India GCC in Chennai, adding to the city's growing pipeline of global technology and business-services operations.
India has more than 2,100 GCCs employing about 2.36 million people and generating nearly $100 billion in revenue, according to the 2026 Nasscom-Zinnov report cited by Reuters. The sector has increasingly moved beyond traditional back-office operations towards higher-value technology, product development and research capabilities.
For Starbucks, however, the Chennai centre is not simply another offshore technology operation. Its stated objective is to create a more globally connected technology organisation, gradually bring capabilities in-house and have teams across locations work on shared priorities.
The company expects to provide more details on the Chennai operation as planning progresses.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from TechCircle.