Thales on 16 February 2026 launched Thales Research & Technology India at its Engineering Competence Centre in Bengaluru, adding India to its network of five global corporate laboratories for Research & Technology. The launch was held during the week of the India AI Impact Summit and aligns with the India–France Year of Innovation 2026.
According to a press release issued by Thales, the new centre will support advanced research in real-time embedded software, edge computing and embedded artificial intelligence (AI), leveraging open-source hardware concepts. It will function as an integral part of the Engineering Competence Centre in Bengaluru and contribute to the development of advanced capabilities for critical systems.
Thales Research & Technology India will have a dedicated team of researchers, including Masters and PhD scholars. The company said the centre will place emphasis on open innovation in the hardware domain and collaborate with start-ups, industry partners and academic research institutions.
“At Thales, research and innovation are collaborative by nature. The launch of Thales Research & Technology India marks an important milestone in our global R&D strategy and reinforces India’s role as a key innovation hub for the Group,” said Bernhard Quendt, Group Chief Technology Officer, Thales. “Through Thales Research & Technology India, we aim to work closely with start-ups, industry partners and academic institutions, as well as government authorities, to accelerate breakthroughs in areas such as high-performance embedded SW, embedded AI, cybersecurity and future connectivity, addressing the evolving needs of critical systems in an increasingly complex world.”
“Thales has been a trusted partner in India’s growth story for more than seven decades. Bengaluru has long been central to Thales’ engineering and innovation activities in India,” said Ankur Kanaglekar, Vice-President – India, Thales. “The launch of Thales Research & Technology India at our Engineering Competence Centre reinforces our commitment to ‘Make in India’, ‘Innovate in India’ and ‘Export from India’, strengthening the local ecosystem.”
India joins France, the United Kingdom, Canada and Singapore as locations hosting Thales’ corporate Research & Technology laboratories. The Group invests more than EUR 4 billion annually in research and development and reported sales of EUR 20.6 billion in 2024.
Present in India since 1953, Thales is headquartered in Noida and has additional offices and sites in Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru and Mumbai. More than 2,300 employees work with Thales and its joint ventures in India, including two engineering competence centres and a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Gurugram.
