Global Capability Centers, or GCCs, are among the crucial elements contributing to India’s fast economic growth. These centers are trailblazing innovators from diverse fields, opening benefitting parent organizations and opening new pathways of growth to sectors within. They are an invincible force whose capabilities are supporting sustainable economic growth. Leaders hailing from various sectors shed light on the inner potential that should be realized to accelerate the economic development of the country at The ET NOW GCC Summit 2024.

A statistical report by Deloitte India indicates Generative artificial intelligence could lead to a significant increase in GDP of $359–438 billion in India, and by 2030, the market for Global Capability Centers (GCCs) in the nation could be valued at over $100 billion.

In the words of  Rohan Lobo, Partner, Deloitte, “I believe that competitive advantage is what GCCs will offer. Competitive advantage is made by customer centricity, a factor of agility, experimentation and innovation”. Lobo emphasized on India's existing ability to direct AI to look at exceptions and solve them, too, which is a benefit and a challenge. He advises that it would be better if innovation is significantly driven from us than from foreign organizations. He brought to light the engineering centers of excellence that are responsible for contributing 56 percent to the country’s. 

“We must seize the moment. We have to collaborate with startups and educational institutions. We have to collaborate with our educational institutions; you cannot leave this massive proportion of talent untapped and unused”.

When we take a look at the Technology Trends 2024: India Perspective, GCCs are leading the way in 2024, demonstrating India's increasing ability to meet global technology demands.

Also, the combined strength of academic institutions and talent development initiatives through partnerships could prepare a trained talent force to spearhead digital change and maintain industry expansion.

The Changing Perspective of GCCs

Aparna Rao, Country Head and Board Member, CBS India, Cargill, indicated how GCCs are viewed today. From an executive role to talent hubs or options, to now as people who are able to move processes of organizations or innovators and sponsors of global programs. She points towards the growth of wisdom on business as the factor responsible for changing GCC’s view as partners to business or transformations.

Considering the change that happened in tha last three years by the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions of the US and China, the Russia and Ukraine conflict among others fasttracked the growth of the country’s GCC ecosystem. The pandemic in particular drove the economic expansion faster than anticipated, sparked a skill-driven talent war unlike anything we had ever seen. Also, the key to businesses accelerating the expansion of their Global Capability Centers (GCCs) is talent.

Speaking on the same lines, Vineet Dwivedi, Global Head, Alcon drew light on how these centers went from having a seat on the table as the first step, then the voice on the table, and fastforward to now, they have become the influence on the table.

Talent Is the Gravitational Force Keeping a Firm Ground for Innovations to Grow

The leaders at the summit emphasized how the talent pool has been the center of gravity for GCCs to set up centers and is the core factor driving innovations well. The speakers defined how India is quick to adapt to the ways of new technologies, thereby describing it as a superb-application country. 

Technologies like AI, machine learning, and data analytics have now become buzzwords around several orgnizations including the news feed, and are being deliberately adopted to improve efficiency and spur commercial growth in the GCCs, as the industry progresses. Future economic growth and global competitiveness in India will benefit from this. 

The Workplace is Changing

A major trend that Ashvin Vellody, Partner, Deloitte India has seen is that the work is changing in the context of models, quality, type, engagement and technologies that are being used.

He believes that the workplace is getting a more holistic definition around innovation, flexibility and unprecedented focus on sustainability.

 

Infrastructural Development

From an infrastructure perspective, India has begun to restructure its public areas, and changes to its port platforms are anticipated to facilitate exports more broadly. Over the coming years, India's infrastructure is expected to see a rebirth, exemplified by projects such as the Bharatmala project, NMIA, and Maritime India Vision 2030.

More Advanced Cloud Capabilities

Consider the Cloud Infrastructure layer. Companies like Cisco have developed networking and router capabilities over the past 20 years, while IBM and HP have developed server capabilities.

Additionally, businesses like EMC and NetApp provide deep storage capabilities. By leveraging this pre-existing basic infrastructure, one of the hyperscalers was able to establish a 2000-person core engineering team for their Cloud team in less than two years.

Significance of Leaders to Prepare AI Strategies

The same holds true for artificial intelligence (AI) and data. Companies are gravitating towards India for the same reason as boards are putting more and more pressure on CEOs and CIOs to present them with an AI strategy and implementation plan.

The current GCC model will change, opening the door for India's GCCs to play a new role. It is certain that India could serve as a center for ground-breaking inventions and a model for global leadership that can achieve net zero goals and create a robust talent pool for the future. It is just a matter of time until India's GCCs transform into true partners of headquarters or become headquarters themselves as GCCs continue to grow and fresh GCCs are established at a higher level of maturity than ever before. Not only is the 2030 vision audacious, but if the GCCs play their cards correctly, it is a real possibility.