By Jaikumar Subramanian, Partner and GCC Industry leader- Diversified Industries, Deloitte South Asia
For many enterprises, the first wave of Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption meant experimentation. Teams tested use cases, built proofs of concept and explored where the technology could improve productivity or customer experiences.
As organisations move towards deploying AI more widely across the business, Indian Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are playing a key role in the shift to enterprise-scale adoption. They are embedding AI, machine learning, cloud and analytics across business and product development. GCCs now play a greater role in driving growth and allow organisations to tap into a vast pool of benefits, including cost optimisation, specialised talent, improved efficiency and business agility. The ability to bring these advantages together gives GCCs an apex advantage, enabling them to connect technology investments with business priorities and growth.
India has become a leading hub for GCCs, with major clusters in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Mumbai and the national capital region. The country currently has more than 1,800 centres employing 2.16 million professionals. The sector is projected to reach US$105 billion by 2030, supported by nearly 2,400 centres employing more than 2.8 million professionals.
India’s talent base adds to this strength, with Indian Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) graduates accounting for about 31 percent of global STEM output. GCCs are also expanding the talent pipeline to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities due to cost efficiency and policy support. They are helping build local skills and employability through industry-academia programmes.
Building capabilities for enterprise-wide use
GCCs have a natural advantage when it comes to testing and developing enterprise AI capabilities. They bring together technology capabilities, domain knowledge and proximity to global business teams, creating an environment where ideas can be tested against real business requirements. This combination can accelerate innovation, help develop solutions suited to real business needs and enable organisations to respond with greater agility to changing market and customer requirements.
Their role is also expanding into engineering research and development, physical AI, robotics and automation, bringing together software, engineering expertise and business knowledge to address a wider set of enterprise needs.
The opportunity is to build assets that can serve more than one use case. These could include platforms, reusable components, data products, models, workflows and tools that can be adapted for different markets or functions. For instance, AI can create significant gains within product development by reducing development cycle times and enabling enterprises to launch products faster. AI-enabled automation can also take over repetitive work, allowing people to spend more time on more impactful activities that require human judgement, creativity and customer understanding.
The value of such capabilities can extend to new revenue channels, cost optimisation and the use of legacy data that has remained underutilised. GCCs can help turn these opportunities into business initiatives by connecting technology choices to specific commercial outcomes.
Taking AI from proof of concept to production
Moving a promising solution into production requires a different discipline from building a pilot. Fragmented data, unclear governance and immature security controls designed for pre-AI operations can become significant barriers.
Production requires reliable data, technology integration, security controls and clear accountability for outcomes. GCCs can help establish the operating models required for this transition. They can develop common governance frameworks, testing standards and deployment processes that teams can reuse across the organisation. This creates a more consistent route to evaluate use cases, manage risks and take successful solutions into business operations.
Speed matters here. Enterprise AI needs to support large workforces, multiple markets and complex processes. India’s technology ecosystem provide GCCs the capacity to build and test solutions rapidly, while collaborations with technology providers and start-ups can bring additional expertise into the development process.
Connecting technology to enterprise value
The strongest GCC-led initiatives in future will begin with a basic question. Can a new platform create a competitive advantage? Can a process be redesigned to reduce cost or time? Can existing data generate new insights or support a new product? Can technology help an organisation improve its sustainability performance?
This business context is relevant because the success of an AI initiative ultimately depends on the value it creates. GCCs are well-placed to connect technology teams with product, operations, finance and business leaders, helping organisations identify where AI can make a measurable difference.
This also points to a broader change in the GCC mandate. The GCC is becoming a centre for mission-critical work, new products and platforms, enterprise transformation and innovation. Productivity and agility remain important, yet the larger opportunity lies in creating capabilities that strengthen the competitiveness of clients or the global enterprise.
India’s opportunity to emerge as a global hub
India possesses several elements required to become a global hub for enterprise AI innovation and scaling: a large technology talent base, established GCC maturity, a growing ecosystem of technology partners and deep experience in operating global platforms. More than half (53 percent) of the country’s GCCs are already contributing to enterprise transformation through technology pilots, centralised solution hubs and Centres of Excellence, providing a strong base for larger global AI mandates.
The opportunity now is to convert these strengths into enterprise assets that can be built in India and deployed across global organisations. GCCs can provide a conducive environment in which new ideas are tested, products are developed, operating models are refined and successful solutions are scaled. When these capabilities serve businesses and customers across markets, the value created in India contributes directly to the performance of the global enterprise. This gives GCCs a larger role in global value creation.
If the first generation of GCCs established India as a major technology destination, the next generation can establish it as a strategic centre that integrates front-office, middle-office and back-office functions for global enterprises.