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EE|Times EUROPE 53

SPECIAL REPORT: INDIA evolve into a center of innovation for Cadence
The Cadence India Journey, worldwide.
This included a blueprint for Cadence
30 Years On India to develop world-class capabilities and
work on mission-critical projects. As part of
the blueprint, Cadence India was one of the
By Jaswinder Ahuja few semiconductor ecosystem companies
in the country at that time to become ISO
Cadence has been present in India since 000-certifi ed.
Turning our vision into reality required a
1987, after the acquisition of Gateway stable, mature, experienced leadership team
Design Automation. How has the com- capable of taking on bigger challenges and
pany evolved in the country over the past providing the confi dence to forge ahead with
the strategy. We did so by motivating the
30 years, and what has changed in the team and inculcating a risk-taking mindset,
broader ecosystem in India? Jaswinder encouraging learning and knowledge sharing
at every level, hiring the right talent, and
Ahuja, corporate vice president and managing director building deep domain expertise.
Today, 1 years on, all Cadence global R D
at Cadence esi n ste s ndia t. td. off ers is business groups are represented in India:
thoughts on the journey and India’s transformation so far. digital and signoff, system and verifi cation,
and custom PCB and IP, as well as global
customer support, global IT, fi eld engineering,
t has been a journey of what I consider operations at a sustainable pace. We gained and all the support functions. With four sites
excellence in execution and innovation a reputation within Cadence for consistent, and about 2,200 employees in the country, we
for us at Cadence India. Like many of the on-time, high-quality delivery. have been ranked in the top 50 in the “India’s
Iearly multinational company entrants to Those years of learning gradually gave Best Companies to Work For” study conducted
the country, we started out in the late 1980s us recognition as a center of excellence in by the Great Place to Work (GPTW) Institute
and early 1990s as a resource center for our execution for Cadence worldwide. We tran- in partnership with The Economic Times, a
corporate headquarters in the United States. sitioned from working on interfaces in the national business daily newspaper in India.
This was the exploratory phase, focused on early days to engineering on core products The bedrock of our success is a culture
building the team, ramping up infrastructure, and technology and eventually to innovation based on trust and respect, a focus on our
and showing we could succeed with a few and new product development. We achieved a customers’ success, and a commitment to
selected projects. milestone in 1997, when product engineering give back to society. We are a trusted partner
The biggest challenge during this phase for the company’s fl agship product in logic to many market-shaping customers, as we
was the hiring of talent. When we visited simulation moved to India. enable them to build products that transform
campuses for this purpose, we discovered that During this time, in the 1 0s and early lives. We have also supported many programs
not many students even knew about VLSI 2000s, the semiconductor ecosystem in across the country that focus on expanding
design, so training had to start from scratch. India was in its nascent stages. Cadence was Indian children’s access to quality education.
In 1994, we partnered with IIT Kanpur (one a founding member of the VLSI Society of In terms of the semiconductor ecosys-
of the tier-one technology institutes in India) India; I served as president of the society tem in India, the industry has talked about
for a three-month training program, half from 2011 to 2018. The industry was growing, electronic system design and manufacturing
of which was at the college and half at the with more semiconductor companies estab- (ESDM) as a huge opportunity in both the
Cadence offi ce in Noida, near Delhi. After lishing offshore R D centers in India. The domestic and global markets. Over the past
training, the new hires were deployed on proj- government recognized that microelectronics few years, we have witnessed growth in the
ects we were working on for our parent. was an important upcoming sector in the number of entrepreneurs in both ESDM and
The engagement with universities that country and launched Phase 1 of the Special fabless semiconductor design.
began back then persists today. We currently Manpower Development Program to support Opportunities abound for Indian start-
have roughly 350 colleges and universities it. Cadence was a key partner in the program ups that aim to solve “India’s problems,”
enrolled in the Cadence University Program at its beginning and remains so today. and that activity will be key to the growth
in India. Globally, we reach more than 30,000 In 200 , the India Semiconductor Asso- of the industry. Areas that could benefi t
students each year through Cadence Univer- ciation (ISA) was established, with Cadence from innovative solutions include educa-
sity Programs. as a founding member. That group has since tion, security, the environment, renewable
expanded its scope and changed its name energy, agriculture, transport, urbanization,
RAMP-UP AND ECOSYSTEM to the India Electronics and Semiconductor and employment generation. Even if there
DEVELOPMENT Association (IESA). currently are startups in these verticals, the
The exploratory phase to demonstrate the domestic market alone is so big that there is
team’s capabilities led us to the second phase THINKING GLOBALLY, INNOVATING room for many more.
of growth the ramp-up. Building on the fi rst LOCALLY Cadence India is keen to continue creating
few, critical years, the next 10 to 15 years were While we were going through the ramp-up breakthrough products and solutions to solve
about increasing investments in building phase locally, at headquarters, it was becom- the challenges in each of these verticals. We
world-class infrastructure, procuring equip- ing clear that globalization was going to be believe we’ve moved beyond just providing
ment, and expanding our teams. The goal critical for company growth. Capitalizing on a center of excellence in execution. We now
was to build credibility in delivering quality this strategy, the leadership team in India are recognized as a center for excellence in
and predictability in execution while scaling articulated a vision for our operation to innovation, too. ■

www.eetimes.eu | FEBRUARY 2020