From 0 to 100 in months: How BOT Consulting helped Hakkoda scale their India GDC

Inside the partnership that transformed Hakkoda’s India Global Delivery Center in Jaipur into a top-performing hub, blending culture-first scaling, AI-powered delivery, and Data & AI expertise to become a strategic asset in IBM’s portfolio.

About Hakkoda

Hakkoda, a leading provider of cloud-native data engineering and analytics solutions, headquartered in the USA, specializing in the modern data stack. Hakkoda helps enterprises unlock the full potential of their data through Snowflake, Databricks, dbt, and other advanced technologies, delivering agile, high-impact solutions.

The Challenge

Hakkoda, a fast-growing Snowflake services leader, needed to:

Urgent need to scale a high-performance data engineering team to meet rising client demand in healthcare, agriculture, and supply chain.
Onshore hiring limited by speed, cost, and talent availability, creating the need for a trusted partner to build a GDC in India.
Accelerate ROI with billability in weeks, not months, while ensuring high utilization and efficiency at scale.
Embed cultural alignment, enabling seamless collaboration across global teams.

Industry

Data & AI

Timeline

January 2024 – Present

Outcome

100+ certified consultants | 33% global delivery hours
85% utilization rate | 90% retention
6 weeks to billable ramp-up I 7 key accounts delivery

Key Metrics

We’ll let the numbers tell the story

100+

highly skilled consultants driving global delivery at scale through Follow-the-Sun model.

100%

SnowPro Core Certified consultants with an average certification time of 2 weeks.

33%

global delivery hours powered by our AI-driven lab, trusted by 7 key clients

>90%

employee retention driven by culture-first hiring and clear career pathways.

The BOT Solution

Leveraged the Odyssey Operating Model to deliver a turnkey GDC:

BUILD
BUILD
Hired & onboarded first wave of talent, aligned with Hakkoda’s pyramid.
Integrated India processes with Hakkoda governance & tools.
Set up office, IT infra, and launched culture + certification programs.
‍
OPERATE
OPERATE
Delivered end-to-end projects, scaled utilization to 80%+
Took ownership of client programs, built trust via governance & escalations.
Drove continuous growth through accelerators, certifications & innovation culture.
TRANSFER
Transfer
Currently in Build/Operate mode, with flexibility to transition ownership when strategic.

Key Differentiators

Leveraged the Odyssey Operating Model to deliver a turnkey GDC:

Factor
Impact
Culture-First Hiring
96% retention, 40% women leaders, career tracks & promotions.
Rapid Scaling
6 weeks to billable, 100+ roles filled ahead with flexible staffing.
Delivery Excellence
7 key customers significantly staffed by India GDC
SEZ Advantage
20% cost savings via tax benefits

“BOT Consulting has been a great GDC partner in building out our team in Jaipur. This partnership enabled us to build an amazing team with speed and in tune with Hakkoda's culture, training, and structure."

Erik Duffield

CEO of Hakkoda

BOT built a GDC that felt like Hakkoda from Day 1 – same culture, higher delivery benchmarks. Their AI-driven talent pipeline delivered 30% faster ramp times, making Jaipur our top-performing hub and a key asset in IBM’s acquisition."

Corey Ariss

COO of Hakkoda

"BOT’s Hakkoda India GDC became Hakkoda’s cultural twin and top-performing hub – now a crown jewel in IBM’s portfolio."

Abhishek Majumdar

Global VP of Hakkoda

Looking Ahead

As part of IBM, the Jaipur GDC is now scaling to 500+ FTEs with:

AI Labs 2.0: Agentic AI for Snowflake migrations.
Dedicated innovation campus for the Hakkoda team.

Ready To Build Your GDC?

Contact us today to explore how we can help you build, operate, and scale a high-performing GDC that meets your business goals.