India as a Strategic Hub for Global SaaS: Lessons from Blackbaud’s Expansion
When Blackbaud inaugurated its Hyderabad office in November 2025—just a year after entering India—the intention was not to shift primary product development to India, but to build a strategic support hub that enhances the company’s global capabilities.
- Jan 30, 2026,
- Updated Jan 30, 2026 7:42 AM IST
Over the past decade, India has evolved from a back office destination to a vital contributor to global technology operations and product enablement. Companies across SaaS, AI, and cloud native industries are increasingly leveraging India as a center for global support, scalability, and operational partnership—not necessarily as the primary owner of core technology. Blackbaud’s Hyderabad expansion is a strong example of how a global SaaS company can integrate India into its worldwide operating model while maintaining central ownership of product strategy and R&D at the global level.
Blackbaud, a U.S.-headquartered software company serving nonprofits, educational institutions, foundations, and corporate social impact programs, supports organisations in more than 100 countries, with more than $100 billion raised, granted, or managed annually. This scale requires a globally distributed model where teams across regions contribute to execution, operational continuity, and product support, while core platform direction remains anchored with global leadership.
When Blackbaud inaugurated its Hyderabad office in November 2025—just a year after entering India—the intention was not to shift primary product development to India, but to build a strategic support hub that enhances the company’s global capabilities. The Hyderabad team works in partnership with global product, engineering, and AI teams, contributing capacity, follow the sun coverage, operational depth, and specialized expertise that strengthen global initiatives.
“Hyderabad brings together a world class talent ecosystem and a vibrant technology culture, both of which align perfectly with Blackbaud’s purpose,” said Kevin Gregoire, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Blackbaud. “Our Hyderabad presence strengthens our global operating model and helps us support innovation that empowers our customers to drive meaningful change worldwide.”
The India teams span areas such as engineering support, product operations, applied analytics, design support, data stewardship, and platform services. Their work complements globally led product management and R&D efforts, ensuring that Blackbaud maintains consistent execution, higher velocity, and resilient global operations—all while preserving core technology strategy, architecture, and decision making in its established global centers.
Rajiv Gajria, Vice President and Managing Director of Blackbaud India, emphasizes the value of India’s talent landscape. “Hyderabad's energy and skill depth make it the perfect home for our growing team,” he said. “Over the past year, we have built a diverse and high performing workforce supporting product, design, engineering, and operations. We continue to hire purpose driven professionals who are curious, skilled, and collaborative—and who thrive on contributing to global work that matters.”
This approach aligns with broader trends in the social impact and enterprise SaaS sectors. Organisations increasingly expect technology platforms that integrate payments, compliance, data intelligence, analytics, AI enhanced insights, and secure global operations. Meeting these expectations requires a hybrid approach: core innovation anchored in global R&D centers, supported by distributed teams who increase coverage, capacity, and execution strength. India’s mature talent ecosystem fits this model well.
Hyderabad’s rise as a hub for SaaS expertise, data operations, and applied engineering makes it a strategic location for global support—especially as companies seek to balance innovation velocity with cost efficiency, resiliency, and time zone diversity. For Blackbaud, the city offers an ideal environment to strengthen its global footprint without altering where core technology ownership and R&D decision making sit.
Blackbaud’s India strategy highlights an important lesson for global SaaS companies: attracting top talent in today’s market requires meaningful, purpose driven work, even when teams are focused on supporting global operations rather than owning core product development. India’s workforce is increasingly drawn to roles that combine high impact missions with technical challenge and the opportunity to contribute to global platforms used worldwide.
In this context, Blackbaud’s Hyderabad expansion reflects a broader shift in how global SaaS companies design their operating models. By establishing a strong India based support hub—focused on enabling, partnering, and scaling global initiatives—the company reinforces its ability to innovate at speed while maintaining centralized R&D ownership. For India, this represents continued growth as an essential partner in next generation enterprise software—from operational excellence to global platform enablement—driven by talent, collaboration, and strategic alignment.
Over the past decade, India has evolved from a back office destination to a vital contributor to global technology operations and product enablement. Companies across SaaS, AI, and cloud native industries are increasingly leveraging India as a center for global support, scalability, and operational partnership—not necessarily as the primary owner of core technology. Blackbaud’s Hyderabad expansion is a strong example of how a global SaaS company can integrate India into its worldwide operating model while maintaining central ownership of product strategy and R&D at the global level.
Blackbaud, a U.S.-headquartered software company serving nonprofits, educational institutions, foundations, and corporate social impact programs, supports organisations in more than 100 countries, with more than $100 billion raised, granted, or managed annually. This scale requires a globally distributed model where teams across regions contribute to execution, operational continuity, and product support, while core platform direction remains anchored with global leadership.
When Blackbaud inaugurated its Hyderabad office in November 2025—just a year after entering India—the intention was not to shift primary product development to India, but to build a strategic support hub that enhances the company’s global capabilities. The Hyderabad team works in partnership with global product, engineering, and AI teams, contributing capacity, follow the sun coverage, operational depth, and specialized expertise that strengthen global initiatives.
“Hyderabad brings together a world class talent ecosystem and a vibrant technology culture, both of which align perfectly with Blackbaud’s purpose,” said Kevin Gregoire, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Blackbaud. “Our Hyderabad presence strengthens our global operating model and helps us support innovation that empowers our customers to drive meaningful change worldwide.”
The India teams span areas such as engineering support, product operations, applied analytics, design support, data stewardship, and platform services. Their work complements globally led product management and R&D efforts, ensuring that Blackbaud maintains consistent execution, higher velocity, and resilient global operations—all while preserving core technology strategy, architecture, and decision making in its established global centers.
Rajiv Gajria, Vice President and Managing Director of Blackbaud India, emphasizes the value of India’s talent landscape. “Hyderabad's energy and skill depth make it the perfect home for our growing team,” he said. “Over the past year, we have built a diverse and high performing workforce supporting product, design, engineering, and operations. We continue to hire purpose driven professionals who are curious, skilled, and collaborative—and who thrive on contributing to global work that matters.”
This approach aligns with broader trends in the social impact and enterprise SaaS sectors. Organisations increasingly expect technology platforms that integrate payments, compliance, data intelligence, analytics, AI enhanced insights, and secure global operations. Meeting these expectations requires a hybrid approach: core innovation anchored in global R&D centers, supported by distributed teams who increase coverage, capacity, and execution strength. India’s mature talent ecosystem fits this model well.
Hyderabad’s rise as a hub for SaaS expertise, data operations, and applied engineering makes it a strategic location for global support—especially as companies seek to balance innovation velocity with cost efficiency, resiliency, and time zone diversity. For Blackbaud, the city offers an ideal environment to strengthen its global footprint without altering where core technology ownership and R&D decision making sit.
Blackbaud’s India strategy highlights an important lesson for global SaaS companies: attracting top talent in today’s market requires meaningful, purpose driven work, even when teams are focused on supporting global operations rather than owning core product development. India’s workforce is increasingly drawn to roles that combine high impact missions with technical challenge and the opportunity to contribute to global platforms used worldwide.
In this context, Blackbaud’s Hyderabad expansion reflects a broader shift in how global SaaS companies design their operating models. By establishing a strong India based support hub—focused on enabling, partnering, and scaling global initiatives—the company reinforces its ability to innovate at speed while maintaining centralized R&D ownership. For India, this represents continued growth as an essential partner in next generation enterprise software—from operational excellence to global platform enablement—driven by talent, collaboration, and strategic alignment.