“India continues to produce incredible talent, and we see this as a real opportunity” – Harsha Jalihal, MongoDB

India is not only known for its resource-richness but also for its exceptional talent capabilities– a highly skilled workforce, particularly in technology, engineering, and scientific fields, fueled by a robust education system. Beyond sheer numbers, India's workforce is adaptable, innovative, and increasingly ready to tackle the future-forward challenges that global industries face. 

In an exclusive conversation with People Matters, Harsha Jalihal, Chief People Officer at MongoDB, sheds light on the immense potential of India’s tech talent and its growing role in the company’s global strategy. She also underlined how AI and automation are transforming HR—from streamlining tasks to enhancing employee support—while stressing the importance of thoughtful, secure implementation. 

Harsha also outlines MongoDB’s India-focused talent strategy, including skilling programs and academic partnerships, all rooted in a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and readiness for the future.

Read here the detailed interview:

Q. How are AI and automation transforming hiring practices and HR policies across the global tech industry, and what implications does this have for workforce planning and employee experience?

Sharing my perspective on how AI is impacting the world of HR—I’d say we’re cautiously optimistic. Like with any technology, when it’s applied to something as nuanced as human behavior and employee experience, you have to proceed thoughtfully.

Due diligence is crucial, put the right guardrails in place, and carefully consider the risks—especially since it involves access to sensitive information and can shape behavior. As we all know, AI brings both opportunities and challenges.”

So, HR professionals are exploring AI in different ways and at different speeds, depending on their company or industry. But I think we’re all approaching it with a sense of cautious optimism—and MongoDB is no exception.

The most obvious use of AI I’ve seen in HR is around automating administrative tasks—things you’d typically assign headcount to. By doing that, you free up people to focus on what only humans can do. That’s definitely one of the design principles we’re using at MongoDB as we think about how to leverage AI: it can drive huge efficiencies in work that would otherwise take hours of our employees’ time. I’d much rather free them up to focus on work that truly needs a human touch.

So that’s the first and clearest application of AI. You see it in things like chatbots, tools that generate job descriptions, or platforms that help synthesize stakeholder feedback into a cohesive development plan.

Another great example is automating simple employee requests—like applying for leave. A chatbot can explain your policy and then process a request like, 'Apply for five days of PTO,' right then and there.

Most of this falls into the category of efficiency and effectiveness—streamlining basic tasks and improving employee support. And that’s not just for HR teams, but for employees too. It’s definitely one of the areas we’re actively experimenting with at MongoDB.

Another area is searching for information across the organization. We’ve been exploring AI-powered tools integrated into our workplace apps—like Google Suite and Slack. AI is already embedded in those platforms, which makes it much easier to find what you’re looking for. Say you’re trying to track down a memo you wrote for your manager four months ago—AI can surface it quickly. So enterprise search is a pretty common application, and it’s something we’re already experimenting with at MongoDB.

As I mentioned earlier, another big opportunity is synthesizing information. Whether it’s designing training programs, turning feedback into actionable development plans, or writing strong job descriptions—these are areas where I’m seeing AI being applied across the industry, and where we’re running our own experiments at MongoDB too.

Q. Could you please share some practical examples of how IT, Legal, and HR teams collaborate to ensure compliance and data integrity in initiatives like this?

Absolutely, there’s a strong synergy between IT, Legal, and HR teams. I work very closely with our General Counsel, our Chief Information Security Officer, and our Chief Information Officer.

As I mentioned earlier, we’re experimenting with an HR chatbot designed to take on basic employee questions—freeing up our people to focus on more value-added work.

And as we’ve explored that, we’ve encountered a lot of interesting decision points. I’ve talked to experts in similar roles across the industry, and they’re grappling with the same challenges.

The tools we’re using need access to internal systems in order to provide answers. For example, if an employee wants to know the PTO or maternity leave policy, the chatbot has to pull that information from somewhere. That means it needs access to employee data. At that level, it’s fairly standard. But once you get into questions like, “How much vacation time do I have accrued?” or “What did I earn over the past three months?”—you’re dealing with personal, sensitive data.

So we have to be very thoughtful about security, privacy, and compliance. My team works hand-in-hand with Legal and IT—especially our Information Security group—to assess the risks involved with using tools like this. I do think some degree of risk-taking is necessary if we want to move forward with AI, but it has to be done responsibly. That means protecting employee privacy, their rights, and their data.”

The good news is that most tech providers in this space understand the sensitivity of what they’re working with. We’ve found them to be quite collaborative with our Legal and IT teams—sharing the right information, implementing safeguards, ensuring proper APIs are in place when connecting to our systems, and so on. These are critical considerations when experimenting with AI.

And of course, there are broader concerns—like potential algorithmic bias. So there’s a lot of due diligence involved.

That’s why I say we HR leaders are 'cautiously optimistic.' Some applications are straightforward. But others require much more scrutiny, especially when people and their data are involved.

Q. What is MongoDB’s talent strategy in India to build a future-ready workforce, and how are you aligning local talent development with global business goals?

India has been part of our global footprint for over a decade now, and we currently have around 700 - and growing employees. They’re spread across Gurgaon, Mumbai, and Bangalore.

We have representation among those employees from almost all of our business units. As is typical with many companies like ours, it started out as more of an operations center—as you often see with big tech companies headquartered in the western hemisphere. But now, we have a significant sales force there. We have a growing business, and we’re continuing to expand.

In fact, we’re building out a team specifically focused on driving modernisation for some of our enterprise customers in India. Our customer base is also growing. So it started with operations, then expanded into customer support because of the volume of customers we had in the region. And naturally, that led to building a sales force to help us sell MongoDB to our clients.”

So it’s not just a location where we’re focused on expanding operationally, but also a country where we see significant market potential in terms of people who are interested in MongoDB.

MongoDB is also a popular skill in India, if I can put it that way. We’re seeing more and more developers in India listing MongoDB as one of their core competencies.

I believe LinkedIn shows around 1.4 million Indian developers with MongoDB as a core skill—so the opportunity is massive.

In fact, during my recent visit, I spoke with the team about how India continues to produce incredible talent—talent that’s often exported across the globe. We see this as a real opportunity, and have built a strong employer brand in the Gurgaon region.

And while there are many tech companies operating in India today, we’re feeling very optimistic about continuing to grow. The trajectory has always been upward since we launched operations over a decade ago. And now, we’re starting to diversify the types of talent we bring on board—people who are supporting both local and global customers.

We have a team there working on a range of global initiatives. So, it’s a powerful combination: global reach, access to exceptional talent, and strong local relevance from both a customer and market standpoint. It really checks all the boxes in terms of how we want to grow in the region.”

Q. How is India evolving as a strategic talent hub for MongoDB, and what unique strengths does the region offer in driving innovation and global growth for the company?

The talent hub we have in India really has two or three distinct dimensions. There are a few things we’re already doing—and some exciting opportunities ahead—particularly when it comes to grassroots skill development.

In 2023 we announced a program to upskill 500,000 students in India on MongoDB– our first layer. That’s a long-term investment because we see such a huge pool of tech talent in India, making sure they’re learning MongoDB early in their careers—so that when they enter the workforce, they’re already equipped with that skill set. Ultimately, the more people who know how to use MongoDB, the more we grow.

Our second layer is operational. As mentioned earlier, we’ve had a presence in India for over a decade, primarily in areas like finance, HR, and IT. These teams support not just local, but global needs—and they’ve done so for years. We plan to keep building that operational foundation, especially because the talent pool is strong, people are experienced with shift-based work, and they’re able to help us to provide round-the-clock global coverage.

Our third layer is the Indian market itself. It’s a rapidly growing economy with a surge of digitally native businesses. For us, that’s a growing customer base. These companies are prime candidates to benefit from MongoDB’s technology. So India is a key market for us in the APAC region, and we’ll keep investing in sales and customer-facing roles—to both grow the business and support those customers effectively.

And our last layer, India’s significant tech hub. We want to continue building tech teams there, not only to support customers but also to contribute to product development. We already have engineering teams in place, and we see opportunities for them to take on more global initiatives over time.

So overall, it’s a multi-pronged strategy, and we’re taking it step by step.

Q. How MongoDB is building strong pipelines for developer talent through academic partnerships and skilling programs.

Absolutely, as part of building a strong talent pipeline, we’ve built two main types of partnerships:

One is the program we launched in 2023—MongoDB for Academia in India[DS1] . It offers training for students and provides resources for educators, including teaching materials and credits to use MongoDB technology at no cost. The idea is that students can earn a certification while still in college, giving them a head start as they enter the tech industry.

As part of that program, we also partnered with a platform called Geeks for Geeks, which is widely used in India for computer science education— with around 25 million registered users. Together, we created a learning path to help people get certified in MongoDB, making them more competitive in the job market. This is still a long route to cover, but we’re progressing faster.

Another one is – our key partnership with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which is part of the Ministry of Education in India. Through that collaboration, we’re aiming to reach not only students currently in college, but also learners who are looking to skill up and get hands-on with MongoDB.

Q. Harsha, as HR leaders across industries navigate skill gaps and rising demands in the age of AI, what advice would you give—especially to those in tech—on shaping strong talent while balancing employee expectations and global competition?

As a matter of fact, skill gaps have always existed. Today it’s Artificial Intelligence, a few years ago it was something else. There’s always a new wave of talent bringing in a new set of skills.

I think the real challenge—and opportunity—for HR leaders and industry leaders, is to be thoughtful about how they approach talent.

First and foremost, you need to build a compelling value proposition for employees. And it starts with the culture you’re creating, the product you offer, the market you serve, and the people—leaders as well as teams—who shape that culture every day.

Ultimately, people join companies because they enjoy the environment and learning and growth opportunities. Therefore, it’s crucial to have a value proposition that resonates with people, especially as new technologies emerge.

At MongoDB, we’ve always said our database is built for change. That mindset is woven into our culture and values—and it’s something we actively communicate to potential employees. Working at the cutting edge of technology is naturally exciting to a lot of people, and that’s a big part of our story. Of course, every company’s value proposition is different.

For us, it's about the strength of our technology, the relevance of our platform in the AI world, and the opportunity to be part of something transformative. So being able to clearly articulate that is critical.

The second area is work culture—and investing in it just like you would your products. Every company invests in product development, whether you're in tech or consumer goods. But people often forget that culture needs the same kind of care and attention. At MongoDB, we’re very intentional about creating an environment where people want to stay.

And advice I’d offer to HR leaders today: once you’ve brought talent in, you have to keep re-engaging them. You have to continue “marketing” the company to your own employees so they stay motivated and aligned.

Culture evolves as a company grows, so it’s important to keep reinforcing it—reminding people what they signed up for and why it matters.

The third area is – keeping the bar high for both performance and talent. When you’re working at the center of a fast-moving industry like tech, it’s not always easy. So it’s critical to set clear expectations, create an environment where people can do their best work, and maintain high standards. That’s what drives excellence over time.

And finally, learning and development. I think people often assume that means formal training programs—which are important, and we certainly invest in them—but in reality, most learning happens on the job.

That’s one of the biggest benefits of being in a tech company. Because technology evolves so rapidly, roles shift and new ones emerge all the time. That constant change means you’re always learning—whether it’s through new challenges, team changes, or strategic shifts.

So at MongoDB, learning is embedded in the work itself. And that’s a huge advantage. Of course, we supplement it with programs and tools, but a big part of an employee's growth happens just by doing the job.

So, I’d say there are four key strategies:

1. Build a compelling employee value proposition,
2. Invest in culture like you invest in your product,
3. Maintain a high bar for talent and performance, and
4. Create real opportunities for learning—especially on the job.

I think if HR leaders focus on those, they’ll be in a strong position to attract and retain top talent.