Havas’ Gate One casts itself as the Big Four’s challenger in India

The allure of sleek decks is fading for clients seeking consultancy services, observes Karan Ingle, India client director at Gate One, a Havas-owned consultancy making its debut in the country.

“Clients realise consulting is a lot more than decks and documentation. They need expert-led fast-paced entrepreneurial consulting,” he says.

Founded in London in 2013 and bought by Havas in 2019, Gate One styles itself as a business and digital transformation firm. It has offices in Dublin, New York and Paris. Its Bangalore outpost employs only about ten of the firm’s 600 staff, but the company has ambitions.

“We compete with the Big Four as well as IBM and Accenture,” says Ben Tye, managing partner, setting out the firm’s positioning in India.

The Big Four are Deloitte, PwC, KPMG and EY. As a challenger, Gate One plans to “first start by fixing problems before entering into issues such as new product design, CX, and high funnel transformation,” says Ingle. Current clients include a major retailer and two multinational drugmakers.

The firm’s services, artificial intelligence, customer service, digital and data, and marketing transformation, rest on the broader promise of digital reinvention. Why then set up shop in Bangalore, the country’s most digitally mature city, rather than in metros where older companies might need more help?

“A mature market understands the difference between meaningful change and real consulting,” argues Ingle. Multinationals in Bangalore, he says, already know what they want, unlike in other cities where Gate One must first create demand.

The Indian team remains small but is expected to grow. The aim, says Ingle, is to attract consultants from slower-moving rivals who “want to move faster.”

That raises the question of pay. Consulting salaries are high, while agency pay is not. Ingle is clear. “We are a consulting unit. So, we do hire and pay like consulting units."

Growth will be measured. “We are not looking at carpet bombing. We want to work with a few clients and be involved throughout their journey,” he says.