Articles

Global Capability Centers surge ahead as enterprises navigate economic headwinds

- Panchalee Thakur

The era of treating Global Capability Centers (GCCs) as discretionary cost-arbitrage vehicles is fading. For global enterprises, GCCs are evolving into instruments of resilience and differentiation - helping distribute operational risk in an unsettled macroeconomic environment while simultaneously unlocking innovation, speed, and competitiveness through AI adoption and monetization.

India has emerged as the anchor of this transformation. Its combination of robust infrastructure, abundant digital talent, regulatory support, and growing ecosystem maturity makes it the preferred hub for “GCC-as-a-platform.” Many centers in India are no longer back-office extensions; they are orchestrating advanced capabilities in platform engineering, data products, and generative AI - cementing their role as strategic value creators in the enterprise value chain.

The shift has accelerated throughout 2025. The National Association for Software and Services (NASSCOM) reports the setting up of more than 16 GCCs in the first quarter of 2025.

Next-generation GCC models

GCC providers are moving up the value chain and becoming a key contributor to an organization’s transformation and innovation charter. These next-gen GCCs build their own platforms and products, co-developing and co-owning global R&D programs. They are creating business impact with advanced analytics and AI, redefining the Customer Experience (CX) and risk management.

There is an emergence of GCC Centers of Excellence (CoE) organized into product clusters defined by standards, reusable assets, and accountable operations. Such CoEs are aligned with business outcomes without being singularly focused on costs.

Where to build 

Location strategies help balance a business’s risk appetite and continuity requirements with the depth of local capability through a concept-to-build methodology. It ties advisory, assessment, regulatory setup, talent ramping, and continuity planning with measurable outcomes from the first day.

India remains a favored destination, with Bengaluru being a top choice due to its talent density, startup ecosystem, and infrastructure readiness. Providers in Bengaluru with proven expertise in platform reliability, secure data pipelines, accelerated time-to-market, and regulatory compliance are attracting investments.

Redefining value creation

High-performing GCCs operate as domain or function-specific control towers with defined frameworks for technology and best practices integration, knowledge and talent management, process standardization, and cultural alignment. This shift has resulted in the acceleration of value creation aligned with business objectives.

Integration CoE 

An Integration CoE serves as the execution backbone: API-first, event-driven, and hybrid connectivity that eliminates integration debt, synchronizes data in real-time, and standardizes processes. Effective API governance, policy gates, and reuse catalogs accelerate time-to-market and lower the total cost of ownership.

Torry Harris used a centralized integration approach and an API “factory model” to enable a UK telecom player to achieve scalability and faster time-to-market.

Data and AI innovation hub 

A data and AI hub streamlines how AI models are built, monitored, and enriched on a secure, enterprise‑grade data foundation, so they can scale and evolve along with changing enterprise requirements.

Take the case of Deloitte’s Global AI Simulation CoE in Bengaluru. The center was recently integrated into the Deloitte Experience Center, which offers immersive experiences to clients with advanced visualizations, simulations, scenario modeling, digital twins, and multi-agent systems.

Domain-specific control tower 

GCCs with subject matter expertise in different industry domains enable global enterprises to deliver high-value, niche services by deepening their core capabilities. These strategic hubs combine domain, technology, and operational strengths to advance global transformation and innovation programs.

JP Morgan’s India GCC is enhancing the organization’s global fraud detection program, re-imagining payment processes, and deploying a digital assistant for internal use. Among pharma and life sciences GCCs, there has been an uptick in new investments. For instance, The Lilly Capability Centre India, the second GCC for Eli Lilly in India, will expand the company’s capabilities in automation, AI, product engineering, and cloud computing.

Talent and capability engine

Focused hiring and continuous capability building define next-gen GCCs. An AI-backed recruitment engine for skills assessment, gaps analysis, and skills forecasting ensures an organization’s talent pipeline is aligned with its current and future requirements. These centers promote a culture of continuous learning through upskilling programs and leadership development initiatives.

For instance, Novartis Biome India, a digital innovation hub in Hyderabad, integrates its internal teams with the external ecosystem, featuring structured residencies and mentorship programs. The company was recently recognized as a “Leadership Incubator,” representing a talent model that scales leadership and cross-functional collaboration at the GCC level.

90-day activation blueprint

A successful GCC launch is about tackling key inflection points early and making executive decisions based on a set of prescribed criteria for value, risk, and scale.

Phase 1: Foundation and control (Weeks 0–2) 

  • Identify the site based on talent availability, cost models, and regulatory environment. 
  • Establish a leadership team and governance structures that align with the corporate risk appetite. 
  • Secure a baseline for sufficient infrastructure and compliance frameworks. 

Key deliverable: An operational GCC with basic infrastructure and governance structures in place. 

Phase 2: Capability validation (Weeks 3–6) 

  • Deploy a workable prototype, including compliance and security testing. 
  • Introduce the first phase of key team members, including the Chief Data Officer, Chief Risk Officer, and Lead Platform Engineer. 
  • Implement secure-by-design architecture for the first iterations of AI and data pipelines.

Key deliverable: A working prototype demonstrating the core capabilities and readiness for compliance. 

Phase 3: Federation and scale (Weeks 7–12) 

  • Scale cross-functional teams and get integrated with the parent company’s operating processes. 
  • Launch initiatives for reusability and establish a quarterly review cycle. 
  • Implement comprehensive governance frameworks and measurement systems to address business and operational needs. 

Key deliverable: A fully operational GCC providing business value measured in some form, and an approach to a scale model. 

How to measure 

Effective governance of risk and compliance demands objective measurement systems that track performance across multiple dimensions. Below are some critical metrics that successful GCCs monitor continuously: 

Category
Critical metrics
Target thresholds

Speed

Lead time to production

% of releases following standardized paths

< 2 weeks for standard features

> 80%

Quality

Change failure rate

Mean time to recovery (MTTR)

Service level objective (SLO) adherence

< 15% 

< 1 hour 

> 95%

Value

Reuse rate of APIs/data products

Cost per capability unit

Experiment velocity

> 60%

15-25% below industry benchmarks

2-3 new initiatives per quarter

The road ahead

The role of GCCs in an organization’s success will continue to grow as engines of transformation and innovation. The availability of skilled talent, technology infrastructure, and a supportive regulatory environment in India offers unparalleled opportunities for firms willing to invest in a world-class strategic hub.

Next-generation GCCs will prioritize executing the fundamentals exceptionally well. They will ship faster, have fewer risks, and demonstrate value through clear metrics. The focus shifts from large programs to small wins that compound; build once, reuse, and automate checks wherever possible to ensure growth does not impact compliance.

The following 12-24 months should be a period for GCCs to focus on simplified execution, visible outcomes, and routine governance. Use the 90-day activation blueprint to launch a GCC faster and scale based on what the data validates.

Torry Harris offers comprehensive GCC solutions that drive meaningful business outcomes. We combine the agility of a mid-sized provider with the expertise and commitment of a strategic partner. We leverage our proprietary AIM (AI, Integration, Managed Services) framework to help GCCs move up the value chain into strategic enablers of enterprise growth. With our CoE-driven model, we have built integrated business accelerators that are aligned with corporate priorities.

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About the author

Panchalee Thakur

Independent Consultant