GCC hiring will continue to be resilient and at moderate pace, says Nasscom report
India currently hosts 2,117 GCCs operating across 3,728 units, with an estimated 506 of the Forbes Global 2000 companies now running operations from the country, according to an industry report by Nasscom, which represents the voice of over US$300 billion technology industry in India with the vision to establish the nation as the world’s leading technology system which represents an industry.
The GCC ecosystem’s total market revenue stands at US$98.4 billion, says the report titled, ‘GCC Value Orbit: From Delivery Engine to Enterprise Nerve Centre’. The report, done in collaboration with Zinnov, was released on 2 July.
The report identifies four structural shifts defining India’s GCC landscape.
GCCs deepening AI capabilities across products, platforms and infrastructure
Nearly half of all GCCs established since FY2021 were built with AI as a core focus from inception. Today, more than 1,200 GCCs in India have embedded AI and machine learning capabilities, supported by over 250 dedicated Centres of Excellence and a talent base of 250,000 AI professionals.
AI is no longer a discrete project inside these centres, with GCCs moving from experimentation to deploying AI across products, internal operations, and customer offerings. Conversations have also shifted from what AI can do to how to govern it and make it economically viable at scale.
From capability to value creation
The maturity scorecard of India’s GCCs is evolving from capability focused operations to architecting decisions, AI governance and formulating enterprise-wide standards. According to the report, nearly 50% of GCCs now operate at a high maturity stage. The time to reach this level is also collapsing with 96% of GCCs established after FY2021 launched with a product or portfolio mandate. At the same time, leadership models are evolving, with 64% of site leaders now holding dual mandates that combine global functional ownership with site leadership owning mission critical responsibilities including, cybersecurity and AI governance.
Workforce strategy evolving as GCCs prioritise reskilling and redeployment
GCC hiring will continue to be resilient and at moderate pace. Organisations are prioritizing redeployment and AI-led productivity over linear headcount growth. However, AI hiring across GCCs continue to intensify with demand for AI centric skills increasing to 1.5 percentage points in the past 6 months alone.
Partnership models redefining how GCCs create value
Leading GCCs are building active partnerships with service providers, startups, academia, and government to accelerate innovation and reduce time to capability. According to the report, over 90% of leading GCCs engage with universities for talent pipelines and joint research, while more than half co-innovate with startups through open sandboxes and tech pilots. These partnerships are delivering faster R&D ownership, access to niche digital talent, and the ability to respond quickly to new business needs.
Nasscom President Rajesh Nambiar said, “India’s GCC ecosystem is undergoing a fundamental reset. The shift from scale to value is now well underway, with AI acting as the catalyst. GCCs are increasingly taking ownership of global products, platforms, and business outcomes, positioning India as a strategic nerve centre for enterprises worldwide. The next phase of growth will be defined by how effectively these centres can drive enterprise-wide transformation and deliver measurable impact.”
“The India advantage today is unmistakable — one of the largest and fastest-growing pools of AI and digital talent in the world. That advantage is now translating into something far more structural. GCCs are increasingly moving beyond execution to take ownership of products, platforms, and AI-led transformation, and three quarters will operate at high maturity by 2030. The opportunity is to build on this by investing in frontier capabilities and deepening the ties between talent, academia, and industry. The centres that get this right will not simply benefit from India’s rise. They will be the reason for it,” said Zinnov CEO Pari Natarajan.
As per the report, nearly 75% of India’s GCCs have the potential to evolve into Portfolio or Transformation Hubs over the next five years. Realising this will require action across four key areas: shifting portfolios toward high-complexity work that AI cannot easily replicate; building a workforce that can effectively work alongside AI; measuring performance through business outcomes rather than operational metrics; and moving from managing partners to co-creating with them.
Zinnov is a global management and strategy consulting firm that helps organizations build, scale, and transform businesses through technology, AI, globalization, and innovation. For over two decades, Zinnov has partnered with Fortune 500 enterprises, technology platforms, hyperscalers, Global Capability Centers (GCCs), technology service providers, and Private Equity firms to solve complex growth and transformation challenges. The firm has advised 250+ Fortune 500 companies, helped establish and transform 220+ Global Capability Centers, and supported 100+ Private Equity firms on technology investments, M&A, and value creation.
Nasscom represents the voice of over US$300 billion technology industry in India with the vision to establish the nation as the world’s leading technology ecosystem. Boasting a diverse and influential community of over 3,500 member companies, our network spans the entire spectrum of the industry from DeepTech and AI startups to multinationals and from products to services, Global Capability Centres to Engineering firms. Guided by our vision, our strategic imperatives are to accelerate skilling at scale for future-ready talent, strengthen the innovation quotient across industry verticals, create new market opportunities – both international and domestic, drive policy advocacy to advance innovation and ease of doing business, and build the industry narrative with a focus on Trust, and innovation. And, in everything we do, we will continue to champion the need for diversity and equal opportunity. Fiinews.com
