Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India are undergoing a significant transformation, evolving from traditional offshore service centres to become strategic powerhouses for global enterprises. This shift is marked by faster setup times, elevated leadership quality and a focus on co-shaping global business strategy and driving disruptive innovation, according to experts in the GCC ecosystem.

In the last five years, the landscape of GCCs in India has changed dramatically. “The way the global enterprises are setting up their capability India offices in the country… is the way it is transforming,” Viswanathan KS, Independent Digital Transformation Advisor, said, taking part in an industry roundtable here on the future of GCCs in India organised by Nasscom recently.

What used to take 36 to 48 months for setup, acceleration and maturity is now happening in under 20 months, with setup time reduced to as little as two quarters. The quality of leadership has also improved, with entrepreneurial individuals taking ownership roles and contributing to strategic planning with parent companies.

 “GCCs are increasingly focused on critical areas like cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in addition to focussing on execution. On AI, GCCs in India are not just doing Proof of Concepts (PoCs) but are actively “shaping up the GenAi strategy.”

Raja Jamalamadaka, Head of Roche Digital Centre, noted that Generative AI has “sped up the game because certain aspects of execution like content creation that took months earlier have been shortened to weeks or even days with the use of GenAI.”

Anahita Tiwari, Managing Director, Head – India Global Centers at Morgan Stanley, acknowledged that organisations are “still early in the game” with GenAI but “the potential is out there. Morgan Stanley has a track record of AI-driven innovation to enrich and improve client and employee experiences.”

The mandate for GCCs has shifted fundamentally from focusing on headcount and cost savings to emphasising value creation and disruptive innovation.

Raja Jamalamadaka explained that at Roche’s digital center, value is “not measured in terms of cost savings alone” but also in terms of developing “the next cutting edge solution that can add value to the organisation,” and delivering “new product ideas.” He stressed that the focus is “not just on volume, but on value.”

He also mentioned that “at a broader industry level, the innovation focus in GCC’s has shifted from incremental innovation, to adjacent and often even disruptive innovation.”

Anahita Tiwari added that disruption, once viewed negatively, is now “pretty much the cornerstone of what GCCs are using the business to achieve.” The goal is to “move away from just being transaction processing or technology hubs, to be truly integrated into the business of the organisation.”

Stating that the competition for talent is a critical issue, Raja Jamalamadaka highlighted that talent “thrives when they see the big picture of the organisation and the solution rather than just the small work module that they are working on. This is especially so with Gen Z’s.”

He views Gen Zs not as difficult resources to work with, as is the popular notion, but as “different” in their own unique way.

A key retention strategy involves aligning the organisation’s purpose with the employees’ passion, enabling them to see the impact of their work. Hiring goes beyond just tech skills, focusing on domain knowledge, and benefiting from returning expats and academic collaboration.

Anahita Tiwari mentioned Morgan Stanley’s mixed talent strategy leveraging experienced lateral hires and campus recruitment, emphasising that domain and business knowledge is crucial for future jobs. She noted India’s advantage lies in its mature talent pool with diverse industry experiences.

With an estimated workforce close to 1.9 million and an imputed value of around $64 billion, the GCC sector in India is seen as a “powerhouse for global transformation” with India-based leadership increasingly taking on global roles. The consensus is that “the best is yet to come.”

Published on July 4, 2025