Lowe’s Catalyze's Jimmi James on the partnership between GCCs and tech startups

The fast-changing pace of technology continues to see increased collaboration between established enterprises and new-age startups, resulting in a mutually beneficial relationship.

Highlighting the importance of such partnerships, Jimmi James, Senior Director, Lowe’s Catalyze at the YourStory GCC Summit 2025, said external innovation is largely driven by tech startups.

He was speaking on the topic GCC x startups: Building the next generation of consumer experience. Lowe’s Catalyze is the startup partnership platform of the US headquartered home improvement product retailer.

According to James, it has also been a journey for Lowe’s, moving from the stages of building to co-creation. The Lowe’s Catalyze platform has three main themes: driving innovation, strategic partnership and making investments.

According to the Lowe’s executive, the driving force for their partnership with the startup ecosystem has been largely due to the tech startups' engagement with disruptive technologies.

He provided an example of where Lowe’s faced the challenge of slightly damaged goods reaching their customers, as the vast majority of their products come in large sizes. It was becoming a challenge to identify at which stage of the entire supply chain process the damage was happening. The company engaged with Indian tech startups and its technology was able to pinpoint at which stage they had to make the changes.

This partnership resulted in Lowe’s being able to deliver a better customer experience. In the long run, it helps in better overall financial performance for the company.

According to James, Lowe’s engagement with the startup ecosystem has also accelerated the innovation process, as it took a shorter time to come out with a new solution or service.

This is also important for Lowe’s as its global capability centre (GCC) in India, started in 2014, has around 4,500 employees. James said Lowe’s India is the global innovation center for the corporation.

At the same time, such partnerships also require certain changes in the processes for large enterprises. According to James, there should be a clear work process that has the support of the leadership along with alignment on technology and business impact. Lastly, it is the ability for fast follow through.

James said there has to be a shared belief in innovation, and it is a two-way street between the enterprise and a startup.

The key focus technology areas of Lowe’s in India is around AI, developer productivity, supply chain optimisation and ecommerce. James said such partnerships bring agility and scalability.