The human advantage behind Huron’s growth in India

From the beginning, Huron's vision for India was ambitious. The goal was to build a world-class organisation that would become a catalyst for innovation, growth, and client impact across the global firm. I have been fortunate to witness ambition become one of the most compelling growth stories in India’s professional services sector.

In 2020, our team in India had approximately 500 professionals. Today, we have grown into a strong family of more than 4,100 team members. That growth reflects Huron’s extraordinary ability to scale, but the more important story is the nature of the work our people are doing and the culture we are building together.

From my vantage point, India is no longer viewed only as a destination for technical talent or operational excellence. Increasingly, India is helping shape the future of consulting. Clients are looking for integrated global teams to shape a vision, bring new ideas, challenge conventional thinking, and solve complex business problems.

That shift is visible in the way our team in India has evolved. What began as a focused delivery organisation has become a strategic capability center and hub for Huron, that helps deliver client services, advance technology-enabled and AI-enabled solutions, strengthen operational excellence, and accelerate innovation across the business.

India is no longer a backend delivery center alone; it is an integrated part of how Huron creates value for clients, the enterprise, our people, our communities, and the geographies where we operate. These capabilities are not peripheral to Huron’s global business; they are client-facing revenue drivers and central to the outcomes delivered for our clients and our business.

As our work has expanded, so has our footprint. Huron’s India team now operates across five cities, Bengaluru, Chennai, Jaipur, Noida, and Pune, with seven offices in total and currently building a new office in Chennai. By the end of 2026, we expect to have close to 2,500 seats across the country, not inclusive of many team members working remotely or from client sites. This reflects a deliberate strategy to access diverse talent, build resilience, and create opportunities in some of India’s most dynamic professional markets.

But scale alone does not create lasting impact. Culture does.

We are honoured that Huron has been recognised by “Great Place To Work®” India as one of India’s Best Workplaces™ in Professional Services in 2026. More importantly, I see this recognition as a reflection of the environment our people have built together, one where learning, collaboration, trust, and meaningful client impact are deeply connected.

This matters even more in an era defined by artificial intelligence (AI). AI can improve productivity, accelerate growth, and create new opportunities. Yet, the most important business conversations still come back to people.

Technology can generate insights, automate processes, and reshape how organisations operate. It cannot build trust with a client, understand the nuance of a business challenge, or inspire people to embrace change. Those remain uniquely human responsibilities. AI may initiate transformation, but culture determines whether transformation succeeds.

That is why I believe the future of consulting will be defined by three enduring connections: people, clients, and communities.

First, people. One of the greatest privileges of leading our business in India is watching professionals grow, developing new capabilities, gaining confidence, and becoming trusted advisors to some of the world’s most respected organisations. Technical expertise may open the door, but what truly differentiates people is their ability to listen, collaborate, understand complexity, and build relationships based on trust.

Second, clients. The best consulting relationships are built through collaboration, shared accountability, empathy, and a deep understanding of what clients are trying to achieve. Whether we are helping organizsations leverage AI, automation, analytics, or other emerging technologies, our focus is helping clients improve performance, drive growth, and create lasting results with excellence. That same commitment to value creation extends beyond individual engagements to the enterprise, — strengthening how we operate globally, how we scale capabilities, and how we bring the best of Huron to each market we serve.

Third, communities. Organisations succeed because of the communities that support them; through the talent they develop, the opportunities they create, and the relationships they build. At Huron, this belief is reflected in our India workplace culture and in enterprise-level community initiatives. As our presence has grown across India’s key geographies, our responsibility to contribute with purpose has also deepened, creating opportunities for employees, supporting local communities, and building a stronger platform for sustainable growth.

For professionals considering their next move, Huron’s India team offers something distinctive: the scale and stability of a global firm, combined with the breadth of work of a multidisciplinary business, multi geography, and the pace of growth of a fast-moving organisation. Our people work across digital transformation, analytics, managed services, and consulting on global client engagements spanning healthcare, education, and commercial sectors.

When I think about India’s future, I am optimistic. That optimism comes from the people I work with every day. Their curiosity, adaptability, creativity, and determination. Technology will continue to reshape consulting. New tools will emerge, and business models will evolve. But the organisations that lead the next decade will not be defined solely by the technologies they adopt. They will be defined by the cultures they build.

As Huron continues to grow in India, we have the opportunity to help shape the future of consulting from a strategic hub that brings together empathy, technology, AI, and excellence. We will achieve that by combining the power of technology with the judgment, collaboration, and purpose of our people. In doing so, we create value for clients, strengthening our enterprise, expanding opportunities for employees, and contributing to the communities and geographies where we work.

While AI will transform how we work, our people will determine why the work matters, how trust is built, and where lasting impact is created. That is the human advantage.

This article has been contributed by Paul Praveen, India Country Leader, Huron