India powers over half the world’s GCCs: TransUnion GCC India's Balaji Narasimhan explains why

India has quietly emerged as the world’s GCC capital, hosting more than 50% of the global capability centres. With nearly 1,700 GCCs employing over 1.5 million professionals, the country is no longer just a back-office hub. It is powering global product development, innovation, and enterprise transformation. From AI and cybersecurity to design and cloud platforms, the country’s talent pool and leadership depth are redefining how multinationals operate. In an exclusive interaction with Business Today, Balaji Narasimhan, Senior Director, Operations and Head of TransUnion GCC India, explains how this shift is unfolding. Edited excerpts:
 
BT: How are GCCs in India evolving from back-office units to global innovation hubs?

Narasimhan: The evolution of GCCs in India from back-office units to innovation hubs is driven by a combination of factors such as accelerated digital transformation and global trust in Indian talent. One of the key trends is the emergence of the multi-functional, multi-locational GCC networks, wherein these centres are no longer siloed, but operate as one unit to drive customer-centric innovation and 24/7 global operations.
 
BT:  What makes the country uniquely positioned to lead the GCC transformation?

Narasimhan: India’s rise as a global GCC powerhouse is a result of its ability to scale quickly, skill intentionally, and deliver with strategic intent. With nearly 1,700 GCCs employing around 1.5 million professionals, the country is home to more than half of the world’s capability centres. The robust STEM talent pipeline adds to India’s ability to build end-to-end capabilities — from AI and cybersecurity to product design and platform engineering. In fact, 86% of Indian GCCs play a part in global transformation. The country has a strong base of experienced leaders capable of managing and scaling global functions, ensuring strategic alignment and operational excellence. Policy support is a major contributor to this momentum, with the introduction of sector-specific consortia and plug-and-play hubs in states like Karnataka and Telangana — backed by the Government of India (GoI).
 
BT: How are GCCs in India shaping global product development and strategy?

Narasimhan: GCCs play a role in delivery as well as product roadmaps today. A key enabler is the rise of product leadership in India. GCCs are now invested in customer-centric initiatives, rotational programs, and structured mentorship to create a cadre of product visionaries. These leaders understand global markets, cultural nuances, and have the technical depth to innovate at scale. GCCs are also key enablers in
Accelerating Speed to Market: GCCs can help reduce time-to-market by enabling a global operating model. ‘Follow-the-sun’ development ensures continuous progress across time zones.
 
Agile Innovation: Rollout of Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) allows teams to test and learn quickly. This agility can drive faster innovation cycles and iterations based on real-time feedback.
 
Global Best Practices: GCCs serve multiple regions, enabling the potential transfer of product development best practices across markets.
 
End-to-End Support: GCCs can play a role across the entire product lifecycle from ideation and design to implementation and support.
 
Integrated Ecosystem: Co-location of product, technology, and support functions can foster tighter integration, faster decision-making, and greater alignment across teams.
 
BT: What role will AI, cloud, and cybersecurity talent in India play in defining the next phase of GCC growth?

Narasimhan: Waves of transformation--from AI to automation--have created demand for new skill sets and delivery models. Indian talent has proven its ability to adapt quickly, lead innovation, and embed security-first thinking into global platforms. GCCs are increasingly prioritising roles in AI and platform engineering, positions that have moved from the periphery to the core of product development, risk management, and customer experience. In India, AI engineers and cloud architects are building scalable, intelligent platforms, while cybersecurity professionals are designing resilient infrastructures that align with global compliance standards and enterprise security needs. At the same time, the rapid evolution of technology requires continuous investment in skills development.
 
BT: How can India’s GCCs break silos and integrate ER&D, IT, and BPM into a single enterprise engine?

Narasimhan: Traditionally, ER&D, IT, and BPM operated in functional silos. Global enterprises, however, need integration — where innovation, deployment, operations, and support come together, seamlessly. We went through a similar evolution to emerge into a multi-functional and multi-locational GCC that delivers unified business outcomes. Our journey led us to build products, modernise platforms, and drive operational excellence, with all functions integrated into one enterprise engine.
 
BT: What are the key challenges India faces in attracting and retaining niche GCC talent?

Narasimhan: GCCs in India have redefined their talent strategies from transactional workforce models to purpose-led, capability-driven ecosystems. They are invested in a skills-first approach and career development, while also being intentional about inclusive leadership pipelines and culture-driven engagement models. For example, our Upskill-N-Reskill framework is focused on career pathing, peer-to-peer learning, hackathons, internal mobility, and hands-on projects in emerging technologies. The initiative allows our associates to innovate and learn on the job. The result is a workforce that’s not only future-ready but also deeply connected to the enterprise mission and societal value.
 
BT: How has TransUnion GCC India evolved from a cost centre to an innovation-driven enterprise hub?

Narasimhan: We have evolved from a 20-member pilot team in Chennai in 2018 to a strategic hub with around 4,100 associates across four major cities, including Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune, today. We now operate across IT, Operations, Solutions, and Products, to name a few — delivering end-to-end value. This growth has been shaped by capacity building and innovation. Our multi-year modernisation journey has created deep expertise in AI/ML, analytics, cybersecurity, and large-scale product development