Bengaluru has earned a spot among the world’s leading tech cities, ranking alongside famous hubs like San Francisco, New York, London, and Shanghai. This was shared in CBRE’s Global Tech Talent Guidebook 2025, which highlights Bengaluru as one of the top global centers for technology and innovation.

With over one million people working in tech, Bengaluru now stands as one of Asia-Pacific’s biggest tech talent markets, alongside Beijing and Shanghai. The city is also quickly becoming a major center for artificial intelligence (AI) development.

CBRE, a global real estate consulting firm, studied 115 cities worldwide based on how many tech workers they have, the quality of that talent, and how much it costs to hire them. Bengaluru was placed in the highest group called ‘Powerhouse’, a category that includes only 12 cities with strong and competitive tech workforces.

The city’s tech talent pool now matches that of top U.S. cities like San Francisco and New York. It leads India in AI development skills and has seen a 12% growth in tech jobs from 2018 to 2023, following global trends.

Anshuman Magazine, CBRE’s India and South-East Asia CEO, said, “Bengaluru’s emergence as a global tech powerhouse reflects India’s strategic depth in digital innovation, AI, and talent readiness.” He also noted that other Indian cities like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Jaipur are growing strong tech ecosystems too.

One reason Bengaluru is so competitive is its young working population. About 75.5% of the city’s residents are of working age, ranking it 4th among the 12 tech powerhouse cities. Between 2019 and 2024, the city’s working-age population grew by 2.4%, one of the fastest rates worldwide.

The city benefits from top universities, research centers, and global companies’ offices, all of which help supply skilled workers for AI, data science, engineering, and product development jobs. These advantages, combined with business-friendly policies and affordable costs, make Bengaluru attractive for tech companies.

Bengaluru’s startup scene is thriving, attracting lots of venture capital money. In 2024, the city closed 140 investment deals worth $3.3 billion. Out of these, 34 were focused on AI businesses. Bengaluru is home to 28 unicorns—startups valued at over $1 billion—and remains India’s leading tech hub.

CBRE’s report highlights Bengaluru as a top choice for big global tech companies and investors, thanks to its large talent pool, ability to grow quickly, and affordable costs.

Delhi-NCR had 183 venture deals worth $1.9 billion in 2024, with 42 focused on AI, and Mumbai led India with 167 deals totaling $4.9 billion. Ahmedabad and Jaipur are emerging as lower-cost options for tech companies, helped by strong education and growing infrastructure.

CBRE’s research shows that despite a slowdown in hiring overall, technology jobs and investment remain strong, especially in AI, which attracted a record $129 billion globally in 2024.

Asia-Pacific cities like Bengaluru, Beijing, and Shanghai are leading this growth, each with more than one million tech workers. India and the U.S. continue to dominate AI development, while countries like Poland and Germany are growing fast in this area.

As new technologies develop, the demand for skilled tech workers is expected to keep rising. Bengaluru’s rise signals not just India’s growing tech industry, but its increasing importance on the global innovation map.

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