Global advisory firm Keystone is establishing Keystone India with Bengaluru as its first hub, expanding its technology, economics and regulatory advisory capabilities as enterprises confront AI disruption and India’s increasingly complex digital economy.
Global advisory firm Keystone is establishing an India operation with Bengaluru as its first hub, bringing together technology, economics, strategy and regulatory expertise as multinational companies navigate artificial intelligence and India’s rapidly changing digital economy.
The company plans to expand its workforce in India over the next two years. Keystone says the Bengaluru team will support global technology companies including Microsoft and Meta, financial-services firms such as Goldman Sachs, Indian law firms and other enterprises dealing with AI, platform competition, regulation, litigation and technology strategy.
The expansion represents more than a geographic extension of Keystone’s existing consulting business. The firm’s model combines economists, technologists and management scientists in what it calls a “triad,” allowing client problems to be examined from technical, economic and strategic perspectives.
That interdisciplinary approach is particularly relevant to AI-related business decisions. Companies adopting AI increasingly need to understand not only what a system can do, but how it affects costs, competitive dynamics, intellectual property, regulatory exposure and business models.
Keystone India will be led from Bengaluru by Senior Principal Himanshu Singhi, while Global Head and Senior Partner Rohit Chatterjee will oversee the firm’s Advanced Technology Services, or K.ATS, which will play a central role in the India operation.
K.ATS combines computer scientists, data scientists, engineers and technologists with Keystone’s economists, strategists and external experts. The team can analyze source code and large datasets, evaluate AI systems, investigate technology environments and assess digital-platform architecture.
That technical depth distinguishes the model from conventional economic consulting. A technology platform’s economic impact can depend on details buried in algorithms, data architecture, software design or system performance. Understanding those foundations can become critical when a company faces a regulatory inquiry, litigation, competition investigation or strategic decision involving AI.
Bengaluru provides an obvious location for that capability. The city remains India’s largest Global Capability Centre hub, with a 29% share of GCC hiring in one recent market analysis, while demand continues to center on AI, data, cloud, cybersecurity and platform engineering.
India’s wider GCC ecosystem has also evolved well beyond back-office operations. India’s Economic Survey 2025-26, citing NASSCOM data, estimates that the country had about 1,700 GCCs in FY2024 with approximately 1.9 million employees. These centers increasingly perform product development, engineering, analytics, cybersecurity and AI-enabled functions for multinational companies.
That evolution gives advisory firms a larger pool of technically sophisticated organizations to serve—and creates demand for expertise that crosses technology and business disciplines.
AI is accelerating that demand. India’s AI and machine-learning hiring increased 33% year over year in July 2026, according to data compiled by IBEF, while broader white-collar hiring increased 5%. The same report said more than 90% of India’s early-career technology cohort was classified as either AI-native or AI-proficient in the NASSCOM AI-Native Talent Index.
For companies operating in India, however, technical opportunity comes alongside regulatory and market complexity. Digital platforms can face competition scrutiny, data and privacy requirements, intellectual-property disputes and sector-specific rules. AI can amplify those issues because models and automated systems increasingly influence pricing, recommendations, content, decision-making and customer interactions.
That creates a market for advisory firms that can investigate the underlying technology while also translating its implications for executives, boards, regulators and courts.
Keystone says its AI Centre of Excellence will connect its advanced AI and data capabilities with economics, strategy, investigations and litigation. The objective is to create repeatable approaches for complex client problems while incorporating technical expertise, governance and human judgment into AI deployment.
That positioning puts Keystone into a crowded advisory market. Global firms such as Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG, Accenture and specialized technology consultancies already provide AI strategy, regulatory and transformation services. Keystone’s differentiation is its emphasis on technology ecosystems and the economic, legal and competitive consequences of how those systems operate.
The India expansion also arrives as the country becomes increasingly important to global technology operations. The World Bank says India’s economy grew 7.6% in FY2026 and forecasts 6.6% growth for FY2027, while software and business services remain important contributors to services exports.
For Keystone, India therefore offers two opportunities at once: a growing market of technology-intensive enterprises and a deep talent base capable of supporting its global advisory work.
The company’s decision to build the operation over several years rather than establish a small satellite office suggests it sees India as a long-term component of its global platform.
The larger significance is the convergence of technical and advisory work around AI. As enterprises move from experimentation toward deployment, questions about algorithms and data increasingly overlap with questions about competition, regulation, investment, intellectual property and business strategy.
Keystone India is being built around that intersection. Whether the model can differentiate itself against larger consulting firms will depend on how effectively its technical depth translates into practical decisions for companies operating at the intersection of technology, markets and regulation.
Market Landscape
India’s technology ecosystem is becoming more strategically important as multinational companies expand GCCs, AI development and digital operations. India’s GCC sector has shifted toward higher-value engineering, analytics, cybersecurity and AI functions, creating demand for specialized advisory capabilities.
The competitive market includes the major global consulting firms, accounting networks and specialist technology advisers. Keystone’s differentiation is its combination of economists, technologists and management scientists, particularly for matters involving technology platforms, competition, litigation and regulation.
The timing also reflects a broader AI advisory shift: enterprises increasingly need help understanding not just how to deploy AI, but how AI changes competitive markets, regulatory exposure and the economics of technology businesses.
Top Insights
- Keystone is establishing Bengaluru as its first India hub and plans to expand its local workforce over the next two years.
- Its interdisciplinary model combines economics, technology and strategy to examine AI, platforms, regulation, litigation and competitive-market questions.
- Bengaluru’s concentration of GCCs and advanced technology talent makes it a natural base for Keystone’s India expansion and AI capabilities.
- Keystone’s Advanced Technology Services can analyze source code, large datasets, AI systems and digital-platform architecture alongside economic and strategic analysis.
- India’s growing AI and GCC ecosystems are creating demand for advisory firms that can connect technical expertise with regulatory and business decisions.
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