Warner Music Group opens a global tech and engineering hub in Bengaluru

One of the world's three major record companies is now writing a chunk of its code in Bengaluru. Warner Music Group (WMG) announced on 30 September 2026 that it has officially opened a global product and engineering hub in the city.

What the hub will do

This is not a local support office. According to WMG, the Bengaluru team will build, own and ship products straight into the company's worldwide technology stack, and will have a say in its wider architectural decisions.

The work list is the plumbing of a modern label:

• systems that power global music distribution
• high volume data pipelines
• AI systems for forecasting and spotting trends
• backend infrastructure for the business
• audience insight tools and marketing data products used across WMG

The hub is led by Mahesh Rao, WMG's Director of Software Engineering and Site Lead. In the announcement, he called Bengaluru's tech talent pool the reason for the location and said the team wants to "solve complex engineering challenges that shape the future of the music industry."

Music Business Worldwide reported when the plan was first announced in August that Rao joined from Walmart Global Tech and reports to WMG's Toronto based Chief Technology Officer, Leho Nigul.

Built quietly, then made official

WMG says the opening follows a 12 month incubation period in which it built up a local engineering team before committing to a dedicated facility. Hiring is ongoing, with the company listing roles for distributed systems and full stack engineers, data pipeline and telemetry engineers, machine learning engineers, technical leads and engineering managers, and product managers.

The India picture

The hub lands in a year of steady India moves for Warner. In April 2026, WMG's publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, launched direct operations in India, with Jay Mehta, Managing Director of Warner Music India since 2020, appointed to lead both recorded music and publishing across India and neighbouring South Asian markets.

For Indian artists, a tech hub does not sign anyone or release anything. But the systems built here, from distribution to the data that tells a label which song is moving where, are the systems their music will run through. It is one more sign that the global music business increasingly sees India as a place where its future gets built, not only a market where it gets sold.