Havas India has officially launched Gate One India in Mumbai, marking a significant expansion of the UK-based consultancy’s footprint in the country. This launch reinforces Havas India’s commitment to integrated, strategy-led services and adds depth to its global business and digital transformation capabilities. These include areas such as customer experience, marketing transformation, digital, data, and AI strategy.
Gate One is a global business and digital transformation consultancy that works closely with C-suite and senior leadership teams across S&P 500 companies, private enterprises, and government departments. The firm combines advisory expertise with hands-on delivery, embedding consultants directly with client teams to design and execute transformation programs. Its services range from organizational design and operating model transformation to customer experience, marketing strategy, digital and AI roadmaps, and operational performance. With approximately 300 consultants worldwide, Gate One focuses on creating measurable outcomes for businesses, often working in multidisciplinary teams that can adapt to complex challenges.
The firm typically goes up against Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG, Accenture, and IBM, but is positioning itself in India as a culture-led challenger rather than a scale player. Leading the India practice is Karan Ingle, Client Director, working closely with Ben Tye, Managing Partner, Gate One. Karan highlighted what sets Gate One apart from traditional consultancies, "The foundation of Gate One, or the differentiator for us, is definitely the culture. We are all ex-large consulting firms, so we understand the business of consulting, and we have tried to rework and optimize how consultancies work today. While that remains our core strength, what will differ from market to market is the client, the expectations of the client, the culture of the client, and how we interact with them. That’s the area that still evolves. We learn as we work with clients here, and we tweak the way we offer what we offer, but our core culture: empathetic, entrepreneurial, and outcome-focused is our strength and remains consistent across all our markets."
But why India, why now? Tye underlined the market’s momentum, “India is the fifth largest economy. It’s dynamic, it’s fast growing. The management consultancy market size in India is currently about 8.3 billion. And that’s set to double to nearly 16 billion by 2030. So it’s a really thriving place for high growth of consultancy services.”
Ben shared his hopes for Gate One India, emphasizing the strategic importance of the market, "India has always been a market I’ve wanted to be deeply involved in. Over the past decade, consulting in India has shifted dramatically from being seen as just an offshore service center to a genuine, world-leading capability. It’s important for us to service our global clients locally, and India provides a vibrant hub of talent, innovation, and opportunity. We want Gate One India to be fully integrated into our global service delivery, while also allowing the local team the freedom to express themselves and adapt to the culture here. By combining Havas’ creative ecosystem with our consultancy expertise, we hope to accelerate meaningful change for clients and contribute to the growth of both Gate One and Havas in India."
Karan also mentioned that Gate One India already works with a major retail client and a couple of pharmaceutical clients, who have global operations but a strong presence in India. The consultancy prioritizes deep engagement over volume. Instead of working with too many accounts, it is aiming to choose a smaller set of clients and deliver transformation programs that are designed to create lasting impact.
Gate One’s India strategy is rooted in building a nimble team by hiring experienced consultants from larger rivals, particularly those who feel restricted by the slower pace of big firms. Ingle explained that such ‘blue-eyed’ talent, combining expertise with emotional intelligence, can thrive in smaller, faster-moving teams. He added that while consulting in India remains a small share of GDP compared to the US or Europe, the growth potential is significant. What’s holding it back, he argued, is the outdated model of delivering only decks and documentation, when clients increasingly demand measurable outcomes and expert-led, entrepreneurial consulting. With India no longer seen as a back office but emerging as a hub of innovation, the focus is shifting from following global trends to asking how India itself can lead. Ingle summed up Gate One’s positioning clearly: the firm’s vision is not to be the biggest consultancy, but the boldest
A cornerstone of Gate One’s culture is its Incubator initiative, an internal program that empowers consultants to develop entrepreneurial ventures from within the firm. This initiative is a reflection of the consultancy’s belief in innovation and its commitment to giving consultants the freedom to experiment and create. It underlines the disruptive and entrepreneurial mindset that Gate One tries to build across its global offices.
With its Mumbai launch, Gate One has consolidated its India presence within the Havas Village, creating space for collaboration across creative and consulting capabilities. The immediate focus will be on people, change, and operating model design, with plans to scale into digital transformation, customer experience, AI, and data strategy in the coming months. By combining global expertise with a deep sensitivity to local business culture, Gate One is aiming to position itself as a challenger in India’s 8.3 billion consulting market, one that promises not just strategies, but outcomes.
