"To Achieve $1 BILLION REVENUE, We Need To Scale Up To 20,000 Employees— A 10x GROWTH"

Quest Global plans a tenfold expansion in its semiconductor workforce, growing from 2000 to 20,000, as India's semiconductor industry accelerates. Taher Madraswala from Quest Global shares the company's hiring strategy and talent retention challenges with EFY's Yashasvini Razdan.

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Could you give an overview of Quest Global's infrastructure in India in terms of talent and capital expenditure (CAPEX)?

Our two main design centres in India are located in Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram. Thiruvananthapuram primarily focuses on software development, with a dedicated building housing 3500 employees. Bengaluru has over 7000 employees, and we are continuously expanding.

We also have offshore design centres, where entire floors are dedicated to specific customers. These centres operate in secure environments, ensuring confidentiality in semiconductor design projects. Beyond these, we have a growing presence in Hyderabad and are exploring opportunities in other cities.

What are the key challenges of operating a semiconductor design house in India?

The primary challenge in India is retaining talent. Engineers are highly ambitious and constantly seek new challenges. While financial incentives matter at the start of their careers, over time, the excitement of working on new technologies becomes more important. If you continuously stimulate an engineer’s intellectual curiosity—offering opportunities to work on new models across different domains such as cameras, aeroplanes, smartphones, and data centres—they are more likely to stay. The key is to provide meaningful work that pushes the frontiers of their knowledge.

What kind of talent do you hire for these design centres? You mentioned having over 4000-5000 employees. Where do you source your engineers from?