Karnataka Chief Minister Shri D.K. Shivakumar addressed the Annual CEO Breakfast Meet ahead of the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2026 on Friday, 25 July 2026, highlighting the state's growing dominance in software exports and its expanding base of Global Capability Centres.

Speaking at the event, CM Shivakumar said: 'Karnataka's technology leadership is driven by the talent and aspirations of its people. With software exports expected to cross ₹5.5 lakh crore in 2025–26 and nearly 1,100 Global Capability Centres, the State continues to strengthen its position as a preferred destination for innovation, investment and high-value technology.'

The Kannada text of the post — 'ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ತಾಂತ್ರಿಕ ನಾವೀನ್ಯತೆ ಮತ್ತು ಯಶಸ್ಸಿಗೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ಜನರ ಪ್ರತಿಭೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಮಹತ್ವಾಕಾಂಕ್ಷೆಯೇ ಅತಿ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಶಕ್ತಿ' [Karnataka's talent and ambition are its greatest strength] — reinforces the Chief Minister's framing of people as the core engine of the state's technology story.

Context

Bengaluru Tech Summit is Karnataka's flagship annual technology conference, designed to attract global investment commitments and showcase the state's innovation ecosystem. The CEO Breakfast Meet held on the eve of the summit is a high-level closed-door interaction between the Chief Minister and top corporate executives, setting the tone for announcements expected during the main event.

The forum has historically served as a platform where the state government signals policy priorities and investment targets to global technology leaders before the summit's formal sessions begin.

Policy Backdrop

Karnataka has been India's dominant technology hub since the 1990s, when Bengaluru emerged as the country's primary software services city. The state released its first dedicated IT policy in 1997, laying the groundwork for sustained infrastructure investment and talent development that underpins today's export numbers.

The state now competes with Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Telangana for Global Capability Centre mandates and high-value technology investment, using a combination of talent availability, established ecosystem depth, and state-level incentives to maintain its lead. The emphasis on GCCs — offshore R&D and technology hubs set up by multinational firms — reflects a national shift toward higher-complexity, higher-value technology work beyond traditional IT services.

Stakeholders and Impact

The nearly 1,100 Global Capability Centres in Karnataka employ a large share of the state's technology workforce and anchor significant foreign direct investment flows. For IT professionals and engineering graduates across the country, Karnataka's GCC density directly shapes hiring volumes and salary benchmarks in high-value technology roles.

Global technology companies attending the summit are the immediate audience for the Chief Minister's remarks, as investment location decisions for new GCC setups or expansions often follow signals from such leadership interactions. The ₹5.5 lakh crore software export projection, if realised, would mark a significant milestone for the state's contribution to India's overall technology export basket.

What's Next

The main sessions of Bengaluru Tech Summit 2026 are expected to carry formal investment announcements and memoranda of understanding from technology companies, with the CEO Breakfast Meet having set the agenda. Actual 2025–26 software export figures will be confirmed through state economic surveys and industry body data releases later in the fiscal year.

Karnataka's ability to sustain its technology leadership will increasingly depend on policy continuity around GCC incentives, skilling infrastructure, and urban connectivity in Bengaluru — all areas that global companies cite when evaluating expansion decisions.