From backroom to boardroom: India’s GCCs emerge as global innovation powerhouses beyond cost arbitrage

For years, the narrative around Global Capability Centers (GCCs) in India was anchored in one word: cost. They were the operational backroom, essential, efficient, and far from the strategic spotlight. Not anymore. 

India now hosts nearly half of the world’s GCCs, firmly securing its place as the global epicenter of enterprise capability. With 1,900+ centers employing over 2.1 million professionals, the market has swelled from $40.4 billion in FY19 to $72 billion in 2025 and is on track to touch $110 billion by 2030. This is not growth by inertia; it’s the result of a deliberate shift in purpose, capability, and ambition. 

From cost to competence arbitrage 

A decade ago, boardroom conversations were transactional: “What can we move to India to save costs?” Today, they’re strategic: “What should we build from India to lead markets?” 

Microsoft India Development Center (IDC) was originally set up to support product engineering and then evolved into one of Microsoft’s largest R&D hubs outside the U.S., driving core innovations in Azure AI, cybersecurity, and cloud platforms. 

This reframing has propelled GCCs from backend support units to enterprise catalysts, driving innovation charters, owning product roadmaps, and influencing global business outcomes. The focus has shifted from delivering on today’s tasks to creating tomorrow’s possibilities. 

The AI Inflection 

One of the most significant accelerators of this transformation has been the evolution of AI inside GCCs. 

• Then: AI was a back-office efficiency tool, embedded in process automation and analytics for cost optimization. 
• Next: GCCs began building software products from global SaaS platforms to customer-facing applications as part of enterprise transformation mandates. 
• Now: The frontier is data products. GCCs in India are developing proprietary AI models, industry-specific data platforms, and decision intelligence systems that create competitive advantage. 

AI is no longer an enabler in the background; it’s the product itself. And India’s depth in engineering, data science, and domain expertise makes it the ideal launchpad. 

Talent: The new differentiator 

India’s advantage is not just scale but also it’s skill at scale. 

The workforce has moved beyond functional execution to product thinking as a core competency. Cross-functional teams spanning engineering, data, design, and product management now engage directly with end users worldwide. 

In addition: 

• AI fluency is embedded in day-to-day delivery. 
• Automation mindset drives operational excellence. 
• Platform thinking ensures scalability and adaptability. 

And it’s not just the big metros. Tier 2 cities like Pune Coimbatore, Jaipur, Indore, Surat, Lucknow, Visakhapatnam, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Madurai, Kochi, and Coimbatore, Kochi and Bhubaneswar are emerging as mini innovation hubs, tapping fresh engineering talent and offering sustainable growth models for GCC expansion.

According to reports, GCC hiring in Tier-2 cities surged 21% year-on-year in early 2025, compared to just 11% for metros, even though metros still hold 91% of job share. TeamLease data shows that Tier-2 and 3 cities collectively house 490,000–540,000 tech professionals i.e about 10% of India's total tech talent pool.  

Culture: From delivery to design 

The cultural DNA of India’s GCCs has undergone a posture shift: 

• From reactive to generative. 
• From “follow-the-sun” execution to global problem-definition and solutioning. 
• From being told what to build to deciding what’s worth building. 

Leadership here now thrives on ownership, adaptability, and business empathy, making India not just a delivery location but a strategic brain trust. 

Future is enterprise-led, India-fuelled 

The next-generation GCC will not, and cannot, be a transactional outpost. It will be an innovation node, a data powerhouse, and often, the core product engine for the enterprise. 

That shift is already visible in the numbers. India’s GCC market, valued at $72 billion in 2025, is projected to reach $99-105 billion by 2030, with 2,400-2,550 centers employing over 4.5 million people. Nearly one in five new GCCs are now being set up with mandates to build proprietary products or platforms signaling a decisive pivot toward IP ownership and value creation. By 2026, more than 70% of GCCs are expected to integrate advanced AI capabilities, from domain-specific machine learning models to enterprise-wide decision intelligence systems. 

This data underlines a broader truth: for forward-looking companies, India’s GCCs are no longer just centers of excellence. They are centers of gravity where AI is built, products are imagined, and global competitiveness is forged. 

Accelerating GCC growth through AI-ready foundations 

For GCCs aiming to move from competence to category leadership, AI will be the decisive lever but only if it rests on a strong data foundation. Without clean, well-governed, and accessible data, even the most advanced AI initiatives stall before they scale. 

Forward-looking partners can play a critical role here: 

• Data readiness first — ensuring accuracy, consistency, and compliance across the enterprise. 
• Governance and accessibility — breaking down silos while maintaining security and privacy. 
• Integration and interoperability — connecting systems so insights flow seamlessly. 

By embedding ethical safeguards and measuring business outcomes, these collaborations enable GCCs to reach enterprise-grade AI maturity faster turning AI from a promising tool into a sustained competitive advantage. 

Because in the next chapter of global competition, it won’t be the companies with the most data that win but those who can turn that data into intelligence, and that intelligence into impact. And India’s GCCs are perfectly positioned to write that story. 

(Rajeev Ranjan is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Ness Digital Engineering. Ness Digital Engineering is a 4,000+ person tech & AI company that has been making waves thanks to its pioneering approach to software engineering. It is owned by KKR, one of the world’s largest private equity funds. Led in part by Ranjan, Ness's approach is called "Intelligent Engineering" and builds on existing methodologies to turbocharge results by leveraging data and AI.)