No More Back Office as India’s GCCs Take the Front Seat
The year 2024 witnessed a spate of expansions of global capability centres (GCC) in the country. What truly stood out is India’s confident strides in crushing the traditional view of the country as a back-office operations hub. At the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2024, the Karnataka government announced the launch of India’s first GCC policy and strategic MoUs with global tech giants, with an aim to train 1 lakh professionals in the next year. “Our state is the preferred destination for GCC, boasting unmatched engineering talent and the highest number of AI professionals globally,” said chief minister Siddaramaiah, emphasising the state’s commitment to technological advancement. Bangalore still Reigns as the GCC Hub As per data, Karnataka hosts over 875 GCCs, over 30% of India’s total, employs 6 lakh people (35% of India’s GCC workforce) and contributes $22.2 billion annually. By 2029, the state targets 1,000 GCCs, 3,50,000 new jobs, and $50 billion in output. Going beyond Bengaluru as the primary GCC hub, cities like Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, and Chennai are emerging as strong competitors. Tier-II cities like Jaipur, Vadodara, Coimbatore, and Kochi also gain traction, signalling a shift in GCC location preferences. More specifically, around 1,744 global capability centres are strategically spread driving innovation while boosting India’s role as a global business powerhouse. Several notable expansions that took place this year include Bengaluru-led GCC expansions with Apple’s first R&D subsidiary, StoneX’s new office, SurveyMonkey’s GCC, Walmart Global Tech’s 1-million-square-foot lease deal to establish a GCC, and innovation hubs by New Relic and DocuSign. In Mumbai, Morgan Stanley opened a 1-million-square-foot campus for 8,500 employees. In Hyderabad, InvoiceCloud launched its first office, while Haryana welcomed an R&D facility from Comtrend. More Women Leaders Another key trend reportedly observed this year was the growing presence of women in leadership roles in GCCs in India. Some of the leaders include Optum MD Uma Ratnam Krishnan, HSBC India Global Service Centres MD Mamatha Madireddy, Siemens Healthineers’ executive director Kalavathi GV, Merck IT Centre chief Anuprita Bhattacharya, and 7-Eleven’s SVP of shared services Jennifer Goschke, among others. This trend reflects a much-needed shift in organisations in India, which are prioritising diversity and inclusion, especially compared to the country’s predominantly male-dominated IT sector. As per the Karnataka GCC Policy, Bengaluru has the highest number of female employable talent in India. Women are increasingly being employed in high-tech and leadership roles within GCCs, driven by inclusive hiring practices and tailored skill development programs. Finally, GCCs vs IT Companies India’s GCC sector is experiencing remarkable growth, employing over 1.6 million professionals. According to EY, this expansion is expected to continue, with projections indicating more than 2,400 GCCs in India by 2030, which can create over 4.5 million jobs. The market size is anticipated to grow significantly, rising from the current $45 billion to $110 billion by 2030. GCCs offer significantly higher salaries, with compensation for software developers ranging from ₹9.7 lakh to ₹43 lakh annually, compared to ₹5.7 lakh to ₹17.9 lakh in IT services for similar roles. Entry-level salaries at GCCs are also up to 30% higher than the average across sectors. GCCs emphasise innovation, particularly in AI, cloud computing, and cybersecurity, positioning themselves as leaders in tech transformation. In contrast, Indian IT companies focus on maintaining existing projects, while lagging in generative AI and R&D investment due to high costs. In a conversation with AIM, Mohandas Pai, chairman of Aarin Capital and former Infosys executive, noted that Indian IT traditionally excels in services, not products, reflecting a conservative approach to innovation. All things considered, GCCs in India are heavily focused on building AI capabilities and driving AI transformation within their organisations. About 70% of India’s GCCs are reportedly adopting generative AI. The most sought-after tech roles in GCCs include software engineers, developers, data specialists, AI and machine learning experts, cloud computing professionals, and cybersecurity specialists.
And Bengaluru is at the helm.
And Bengaluru is at the helm.
["AI (Artificial Intelligence)", "GCC"]
["Go", "API", "machine learning", "GCC", "TPU", "AI", "cloud computing", "RAG", "Aim", "generative AI", "R", "AI (Artificial Intelligence)"]
["AI", "machine learning", "generative AI", "Aim", "RAG", "cloud computing", "TPU", "R", "Go", "API"]
I hold a degree in political science, and am interested in how AI and online culture intersect. I am at aditi.suresh@analyticsindiamag.com &amp; x.com/aditisuresh12