Zendesk opens Pune innovation hub with end-to-end product ownership for its AI-powered Resolution Platform
Zendesk has launched a new R&D hub in Pune, bringing product management, UX, engineering, and site reliability together to ship global features faster. The centre owns the full stack-from core cloud infrastructure and platform services to the application layer-so teams can make decisions and deliver without handoffs.
The goal is simple: accelerate the Zendesk Resolution Platform and strengthen Agent and Admin Workspaces while scaling the Employee Service offering. Leadership frames this as a push for speed and accountability, giving teams the room to build, iterate, and ship with clarity.
Full-stack accountability, real product velocity
The Pune hub takes end-to-end responsibility for global product roadmaps. That means feature definition, architecture, reliability, and launch all sit under one roof, removing dependencies that slow enterprise delivery.
For IT and engineering teams, this translates to cleaner ownership boundaries, better SLOs, and tighter PM-UX-Eng-SRE alignment. Expect faster iteration on the AI platform and a steadier release cadence across core workflows.
Advancing the Zendesk Resolution Platform
Focus areas include improving the Agent and Admin Workspaces and expanding Employee Service to support internal use cases at scale. This work is tied to the broader Zendesk AI strategy-automating routine tickets, guiding agents with context, and boosting self-service resolution rates.
If you're modernizing customer operations, this move signals deeper investment in AI-driven routing, knowledge, and workflow orchestration. For a broader view of best practices, see AI for Customer Support.
Why this matters to product and engineering leaders
- End-to-end squads: Fewer handoffs, clearer ownership, and faster delivery across infrastructure, platform, and applications.
- Closer feedback loops: Proximity to India-based sales and support brings real-world workflows into product decisions early.
- AI-first feature design: Expect tighter connections between ticket data, knowledge, and automation to improve resolution quality.
- Reliability built-in: Shared SLOs across engineering and SRE translate to better uptime and predictability.
Leadership, team, and scale
The centre is led by Vinod Shah, vice president of software engineering, with 24+ years of experience. He oversees the entire product lifecycle in Pune-from ideation to launch-working closely with global teams.
The hub currently has nearly 300 employees and plans to expand by ~15% before the end of 2026. It partners with Zendesk's sales and support teams across India and serves customers in B2B tech, retail, e-commerce, and travel.
India as a strategic engine
Leadership points to India's shift from a support base to a core driver of innovation. By situating global product ownership in Pune, Zendesk positions the centre as a growth engine-not a support extension-and taps into new talent pools while improving cross-team collaboration.
Customer outcomes to watch
- Faster improvements to Agent and Admin Workspaces with deeper AI assistance and admin control.
- More enterprise-ready features for Employee Service, tied to measurable resolution and CSAT gains.
- Better reliability and rollout consistency as full-stack ownership reduces operational friction.
Built for collaboration
The team operates out of ABIL Boulevard, a facility designed for product collaboration and rapid experimentation. With this launch, Zendesk expands its global R&D footprint and adds India as a core node in its product development network.
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