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GCC Landscape in India — From Scale to Strategic Impact
GCC Landscape in India — From Scale to Strategic Impact

April 21, 2025

GCC

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The journey of scaling Global Capability Centers’ (GCCs) operations in India is far more nuanced than just expanding the headcount base. It’s a long-term journey requiring perseverance across multiple fronts – ensuring management buy-in, customer readiness, building niche skills roles, developing site leadership, etc. It is about orchestrating a strategic shift – where GCCs not only deliver, but also ensure ownership and delivery of high-end work from their Indian GCC.

Over the past few years, especially in the post-COVID era, global organizations have come to trust the offshore delivery model more than ever before. Work which was once restricted to on-site or nearshore centers has now transitioned into large-scale, complex operations being managed seamlessly from India. This shift has paved the way for GCCs in India to move up the value curve and evolve as ‘Portfolio hubs.’

GCCs are fast becoming hotbeds of Centers of Excellence (CoEs) across high-impact/niche domains like data analytics, Generative AI, digital engineering, design, and more. These CoEs offer specialized services to their organization’s business units and to customers globally, reinforcing their relevance in global value chains.

Challenges on the Path to Scale

Despite this momentum, the road to expanding GCC operations is layered with both internal and external impediments like:

1. Geopolitical and Policy Headwinds

Frequent shifts in global trade dynamics and regulatory frameworks create uncertainty. Moreover, India’s GCC policy framework still lacks uniformity among states and the specialized incentives needed to attract R&D and product innovation mandates. Higher taxation on high-value services and insufficient IP protection restrict multinational corporations’ (MNCs’) confidence in offshoring critical work.

2. Persistent ‘Low-Cost’ Stereotype

India continues to be seen as a low-cost, service delivery destination. This perception often limits the type of work allocated to Indian GCCs. However, industry leaders in India are working on changing the perception of global leaders by offering them hands-on exposure to India’s overall tech ecosystem.

3. ‘Demand Supply’ Gap for Niche Skills

The gap between the demand and supply of specialized niche skills, such as AI, cybersecurity, product strategy, is slowing down high-value transitions. Many organizations are investing in upskilling their internal talent, but this remains a medium to long-term play.

4. Under-leveraged Innovation Ecosystem

There is a lack of awareness and incentives to encourage GCCs to collaborate with start-ups and academia and vice versa to facilitate innovation and generate more value.

5. Infrastructural Gaps

To compete at the global level, physical and civic infrastructure such as roads, power and water supply, safety, etc., need to match the pace of industrial growth. These limitations can become critical deal-breakers when MNCs decide where to scale.

GCC Leadership Role: Catalyzing the Next Phase of Growth

To ensure GCCs’ long-term sustainability and growth, the role of the GCC leader along with the site’s leadership becomes critical. Leaders can actively drive the following shifts:

  • Seamless Organizational Integration: Ensure GCC’s matrix-based structure is an integral and seamless part of the overall organization’s structure.
  • Balanced Functional Representation: Ensure GCCs have reasonable representation of the major organizational functions - R&D, product management, delivery, corporate units etc. to maximize synergies.
  • Niche Skill-based Roles to India: Mapping location-agnostic niche roles and ensuring a fair number of these roles are created in GCCs.
  • Developing Strong Local Leadership: Profiling and developing future-ready talent across levels to ensure GCC leaders and managers are equipped to take up global roles.
  • Ensuring the right size of the managerial layer in the team and a strong focus on reducing remote management.
  • Ecosystem Collaboration: Forge deeper partnerships with academia, start-ups, and industry bodies to fuel innovation.
  • Middle Management Focus: Strengthen people leadership skills at the team lead and managerial levels, ensuring operational stability and cultural alignment.

Conclusion: Navigating Complexity, Creating Opportunity

Scaling GCCs’ footprints is a strategic opportunity; however, realizing this potential demands a mindset shift across global leadership, policy, and talent ecosystems.

By focusing on building credibility, strengthening local capabilities, and enabling closer integration with the global organization’s strategy, India GCCs can go beyond being a service destination; they can become a powerhouse of innovation and leadership for the world.

 

Rajat Raheja, Division President, Amdocs India

By Rajat Raheja, Division President, Amdocs India


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