Engineering the Future: Global Hubs for Engineering Research and Development (ER&D) Services

Engineering services have become a strategic enterprise transformation enabler, driven by growing investments in digital engineering, software-defined products, AI, cybersecurity, cloud-native architectures, and sustainability-led innovation. Enterprises are increasingly embedding advanced technologies, such as generative AI, digital twins, edge computing, and 5G, into both new product development and legacy modernization to build intelligent, connected, and resilient products. As engineering models become more product-centric and platform-driven, organizations must strengthen innovation capabilities, accelerate time-to-market, and enable continuous value creation. In this evolving landscape, enterprises, global engineering centers, and providers need to refine their location strategies and build delivery portfolios aligned with changing business priorities and go-to-market needs.

This Everest Group handbook is designed to help organizations identify the most suitable global locations to deliver engineering research and development services. It provides a holistic assessment of the relative attractiveness of leading delivery destinations across two broad dimensions: talent pulse, which evaluates market maturity, competitive intensity, and financial feasibility for engineering services delivery; and enablers, which assess the broader ecosystem required to support delivery, including infrastructure, talent potential, collaboration ecosystem, and business environment.