Sandeep Prakash on Bringing Proximus Group’s Innovation Hub in India

After years of exploring India at a smaller scale, Proximus Group - the Belgian telecom and digital services leader - is finally making a bold, strategic bet on the region.

We sat down with Sandeep Prakash, the newly appointed Managing Director India, to talk about what this move means for Proximus, how he’s blending startup agility with enterprise discipline, and why building the right culture and talent in India will define the future of the company.

Q: After some time exploring at minor scale the local opportunities with its’ previous Mobtexting acquisition, Proximus is now setting up a Global Capability Center in Bengaluru. What’s the bigger vision for India’s role in the company’s global transformation?

Since 2023, Proximus Group has embarked on a journey to establish Global Competence Centres (GCCs), starting with Serbia, followed by India, and potentially expanding in Europe.

The goal of these GCCs is to help us access global talent that is scarce, reduce our dependence on external partners by internalizing the talents, and stay competitive as many of our competitors are also utilizing GCCs.

Our vision for the India GCC goes far beyond operational support. It is designed to be a strategic innovation hub - one that not only brings scale and agility to our global operations but also drives the kind of technological advancement and digital thinking that will define the next chapter of Proximus.

Historically, we’ve relied on external service providers to meet our technology needs. With the GCC, we are taking back control of that capability, building a core team that is fully integrated into the Proximus Group. This allows us to move faster, innovate more boldly, and retain critical knowledge within the organization.

India offers us the unique advantage of access to world-class talent at scale - something that is increasingly difficult to achieve in some of our home markets. By tapping into this ecosystem, we are not only strengthening our global delivery capabilities but also creating a center of excellence that will help shape the future of digital services across the Proximus Group. It allows us on top to be part of this vibrant tech scene in India and in the ecosystem in Benguluru in particular.

This is not just a structural shift - it’s a cultural one. We are building a truly global, cross-continental organization where collaboration, innovation, and shared purpose are at the heart of everything we do.

Q: You bring deep experience from both startups and large tech companies. How are you planning to blend that agility and structure in building Proximus' India operations?

One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned from working across both startups and large enterprises is that success lies in not only the balance between those two traits but also equally on interchangeability between them - knowing when to lean into each.

In the early stages of the GCC, agility is critical. We are operating with a startup mindset - building lean teams, making quick decisions, and iterating rapidly. This allows us to establish momentum and respond dynamically to the evolving needs of the global organization.

At the same time, we are laying down a strong foundation of processes, governance, and talent development frameworks and most importantly, a dependable partner ecosystem that will support sustainable growth. As we scale, these structures will ensure consistency, quality, and alignment with the broader Proximus Group’s strategic goals.

Another valuable aspect of my journey has been the opportunity to lead across diverse business environments - from leading Indian businesses in Europe and US to heading American companies’ centers here in India previously. These experiences have shaped my belief that the most resilient and high-performing organizations are those that can blend entrepreneurial agility with enterprise-grade discipline.

My role is to ensure that this balance is maintained - that we remain nimble and innovative, without compromising operational excellence. I believe that with the right leadership, culture, and clarity of purpose, we can create an organization that is not only efficient and scalable but also deeply entrepreneurial at its core.

Q: What will make this GCC stand out in a market already crowded with tech hubs and innovation centers?

India has long been a global hub for technology and innovation, and while the market is indeed crowded, we see that not as a challenge - but as an opportunity. The maturity of the Indian GCC ecosystem gives us a unique advantage: we are entering at a time when the model has evolved, best practices are fairly well-established, and the expectations from global centers are far more strategic than transactional.

What sets the Proximus India GCC apart is the clarity of its mandate and the timing of its inception. We are not retrofitting an existing model - we are building from the ground up, with the benefit of learning from the evolution of the GCC landscape in India over the past two decades. This allows us to be deliberate in our design, agile in our execution, and bold in our ambition.

Our GCC is not just a cost or capacity play. It is a strategic enabler of Proximus’s transformation from a traditional telecom operator to a digital technology company. We are embedding the center deeply into the Group’s global operating model. The futuristic teams that we are building in India will be taking end-to-end ownership of platforms, products, and innovation streams that are critical to our future.

Moreover, we are building a culture that reflects the values of Proximus - one that is inclusive, collaborative, and innovation-driven. The India GCC will be a place where talent is empowered, ideas are nurtured, and impact is measurable.

Additionally, we already have big investments via our subsidiary Proximus Global in India. With Route Mobile we represent already a big employee and business presence.  And our GCC is not just a deep verticalization exercise, but is spread across various domains and across seniority levels. This not only offers Proximus a lot more flexibility as a business to own and maneuver between projects but also for employees it is a huge opportunity in the form of horizontal growth.

Q: Talent is a huge part of any GCC’s success. What kind of team are you looking to build, and how do you plan to attract and retain the right talent?

At Proximus, we recognize that talent is not just a resource - it’s the foundation of everything we aim to achieve through our Global Capability Center in India. Our ambition is to build a team that is not only technically strong, but also deeply aligned with our values, our purpose, and our transformation journey.

We are looking to build a diverse, high-performing, and innovation-driven workforce - one that brings together deep domain expertise, a strong product mindset, and the ability to collaborate across geographies and cultures. This means hiring not just for skills, but for curiosity, adaptability, and leadership potential at every level.

Our approach to attracting and retaining talent is rooted in three key principles:

1. Purpose: Offering meaningful work that directly contributes to Proximus’s global strategy.

2. Growth: Creating clear career paths, global exposure, and a culture of learning.

3. Strong culture: fostering inclusivity and cultivating a strong sense of belonging are essential at Proximus.

   
   

We are already seeing this strategy bear early fruits. Today we are well staffed with the management team and fully functional staff & support, along with a growing middle management layer including Subject Matter Experts.

Q: How do you see India contributing not just operationally, but strategically to the group’s innovation and product roadmap?

India’s contribution to the Proximus Group is designed to be deeply strategic from the outset. We are not building a support center - we are building a core capability hub that will play a direct role in developing and evolving the business-critical applications that power our global operations.

The roles we are opening in India reflect this intent. These are not limited to junior or execution-focused positions. We are building a deliberate mix of senior architects, product owners and domain specialists. alongside high-potential early-career talent. This blend allows us to create teams that are capable of owning full product life cycles - from design and development to deployment and continuous improvement.

By embedding these roles into our global product and platform teams, we ensure that India is not just contributing to delivery but actively shaping the technology charter of the Group. This includes work in areas such as digital customer experience, data & automation, cybersecurity, cloud-native platforms, and next-gen network technologies.

Q: Proximus is known for its focus on sustainability and digital inclusion. Will these values reflect in the way the India operations are designed and run?

In short, yes. Although I will give you the longer answer for this in a few months of time. That's because, we want to carry the ethos and values of sustainability but not just copy our practices from a different part of the world. In the coming months, we will identify areas of needs and impact creation locally here in India and implement them very carefully and with equal dedication, for which we are known

Q: What excites you the most about this new role and what challenges do you foresee as you scale up in India?

What excites me most is the opportunity to build something meaningful from the ground up - not just a new center, but a new way of working, thinking, and contributing to the Proximus Group’s transformation. Being part of a journey where India moves from being a new initiative to a strategic driver of innovation is incredibly energizing.

Having lived and worked across continents, I’ve seen how powerful it can be when diverse teams come together around a shared purpose. This role allows me to bring that experience full circle, and help shape a center that is globally connected, locally empowered, and built for impact.

One quote though cliched, never felt misplaced throughout my career “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. As we scale, one of the biggest challenges will be ensuring that we build a culture that’s not just high-performing, but also inclusive, collaborative, and aligned with the values of Proximus. Rapid growth can test that, so we’ll need to be intentional about how we hire, onboard, and lead.

Another challenge is getting the talent mix right. Not just headcount numbers, but the quality. Balancing speed with quality, and scale with depth, will be key. These are equal parts opportunities & challenges. Like everything in life.