Bengaluru has become the engine room for US retailer Target’s tech innovation, powering an AI-led reset that raises the stakes against Walmart and Amazon. With 40% of Target’s technology team now based in the city and a fresh lease of over 8 lakh sq ft, the India hub is shaping decisions across over 2,000 stores.
Bengaluru as Target’s second integrated headquarters
Target calls its India Global Capabilities Centre its second integrated headquarters, underscoring how far the Bengaluru unit has moved beyond offshore support. The centre employs over 5,700 people, spanning merchandising, store design, finance, marketing, operations and technology.
The expansion, which consolidates operations across the city, marks a pivot from scale to ownership of core capabilities. Senior leaders said growth will be judged by strategic scope, not just seat count.
AI-first shift and India’s role
Target is rebuilding its data ecosystem and AI architecture, with India leading data engineering, semantic and context engineering. Executive vice president and chief information and product officer Prat Vemana put it plainly: ‘Bangalore office is playing a significant role in our tech portfolio. Forty percent of my teams are here.’
The company says it is moving from using AI to running on AI. ‘We are completely rearchitecting for AI readiness across the board,’ Vemana said, noting systems built for human users are being redesigned to support AI agents and autonomous decisions.
Its internal platform, Think Tank, has been built to operate flexibly with most large language model companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. The company also has close to 300 AI agents in production.
Building for scale, not just headcount
AI is shifting skills rather than shrinking teams, according to leaders. ‘It’s not so much the impact on hiring. It’s changing our existing workforce and the way they go about doing their job,’ said Brad Thompson, senior vice president, technology.
Andrea Zimmerman, senior vice president and president, Target in India, said the centre’s growth will be measured by expanding ownership of strategic capabilities.
Foundation plus innovation, driven from India
Vemana framed the strategy as a two-track push. ‘I look at it from both foundation and innovation lenses. So, strengthening the foundation, whether it’s technology foundation or core retail systems, we look at that. When it comes to innovation, innovating both on the style and design front, as well as innovating our platform for digital disruption.’
That blend is visible in consumer experience, personalisation and supply chain management work executed out of Bengaluru. The India team’s mix of experienced and young hires is credited with accelerating redesigns for the AI age.
Competitive stakes in retail tech
With heavyweights such as Walmart and Amazon doubling down on agentic AI ecosystems, Target is embedding AI across functions. ‘Whether it’s guest experience, whether it’s merchandising, whether it’s store operations and inventory management, almost every one of them has AI. So you can no longer separate, this is the AI cost, this is the non-AI cost,’ Vemana added.
Target’s emphasis on technology investment was reiterated during its earnings call held in May, prioritising consumer experience and supply chain. The company, a Fortune 500 firm, says Bengaluru is now central to that enterprise-wide transformation.
Here are the moves that signal the shift:
– Lease of over 8 lakh sq ft in Bengaluru
– 40% of the company’s technology team in India
– Close to 300 AI agents in production
– Partnerships with OpenAI, Anthropic and Google
Learning from India’s market, without doing deals
Target’s playbook in India is focused on learning rather than acquisitions. While Walmart’s investment in Flipkart has offered lessons in building large retail ecosystems, Target says it is tapping the country’s technology, retail knowledge and talent ecosystem.
Vemana cited the loyalty leadership team’s visits to Bengaluru to learn from local retailers. On M&A, Zimmerman said: ‘That’s not been a very specific thing that we’ve ventured into in India at this point. But that doesn’t mean we’re not both contributing and taking immense amounts from a learning standpoint.’
Target also said its India GCC accounts for 40 percent of its international technology workforce, reinforcing Bengaluru's long-term role. The message is clear: the company’s AI future is being built where its talent density and ecosystem access are deepest.
