For a long time, the GCC business case was built around a simple equation: how much can we save, how much work can we move, and how quickly can we scale?
Those questions still matter. But as GCCs in India take on more complex and business-critical work, setting one up requires a broader set of decisions- about capabilities, talent, operating models, business outcomes, and what comes next.
So what should CEOs be thinking about when setting up a GCC in India?
• Where should we build it?
• What should the GCC own, and what should remain with partners?
• How should we design the center for scale and long-term maturity?
• How should we measure its value to the business?
• And how should we build it for an AI-first future?
India itself is at a very different point in its GCC journey. The country now has over 2,117 GCCs, a 2.36 Mn-strong GCC workforce, and a USD 98.4 Bn GCC market. But scale is only part of the story. The bigger change is in what these centers are being asked to do.
According to Zinnov-Indiaspora’s GCC AI Opportunity Report 2026, 70–80% of the work done by India GCCs in 2015 was execution-led. Today, expertise-driven and frontier work – spanning areas such as architecture, research, and AI– accounts for 45% of the average GCC work portfolio.
This shift is also visible in how GCCs are maturing. The Zinnov-Nasscom India GCC Lnadscape Report 2026 research shows that 53% of India GCCs had reached the Portfolio Hub stages by FY2024, compared with just 18% a decade earlier– reflecting a move toward innovation, technology transformation, global ownership, and higher-value mandates from India.
In a recent conversation, Nilesh Thakker, President- GCC Business at Zinnov, shares what this shift means for companies setting up in India – from defining the center’s role to talent, leadership, business outcomes, and AI.
• A GCC is increasingly a way to access and build capabilities for the global business, not simply an offshore or cost-saving center.
• India continues to be a major destination for technology, product development, innovation, and business operations.
• The location conversation is also widening beyond Bengaluru to Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, and Tier-II cities.
• Rather than choosing a location first, start with the capability you need, then determine where it can be built best . As research puts it, “Location is an output of design, not an input.” Talent remains a major driver of location decisions, with two-thirds of new GCCs choosing Bengaluru and Hyderabad. At the same time, Tier-II cities are becoming increasingly relevant, reporting 10–15% lower attrition than Tier-I metros and stronger retention according to more than 80% of GCC leaders surveyed.
• Evaluate locations across talent depth, leadership availability, capability maturity, ecosystem, scalability, retention, and economics. The right location should reflect what the GCC needs to own today and the capabilities it will need to build over time.
• GCC and outsourcing do not have to be competing models. The decision is about where internal ownership creates more value.
• Capabilities linked to IP, products, customer experience, data, or competitive advantage are stronger candidates to build and own within the GCC.
• Work that is important but does not differentiate the business can continue with outsourcing partners.
• The Core vs. Context lens helps make the decision: own what differentiates the business; use partners where proprietary ownership is not critical.
• Ask “What should we own?” before asking “How much should we build?”
• Look three to five years ahead: capabilities that will shape how the company competes may warrant internal ownership today.
• Design: Define the GCC’s mission, charter, capability portfolio, talent requirements, location, operating model, and business case before execution begins.
• Build: Establish the center, hire leadership and talent, shape the employer brand, set up the workplace, and put the required infrastructure in place.
• Operate and transform: Stabilize the center, then progressively expand its ownership and strategic contribution.
• The design stage should bring together business, technology, product, HR, and finance leaders so the GCC is built around enterprise priorities, not as an isolated India operation.
• Build the blueprint before building the headcount: be clear about the GCC’s mandate, ownership, and success measures before hiring begins.
• Get leadership right early: the first GCC leader has to build credibility with both the India team and global stakeholders as the center scales.
• Headcount, utilization, cost, and savings still matter – but they show scale and efficiency, not whether the GCC has become strategically valuable.
• A mature GCC should also be measured on business outcomes such as revenue impact, margins, customer experience, innovation, products, and capabilities created.
• The strongest signal is enterprise dependence: the more important the capabilities owned by the GCC, the more directly its performance matters to the global business.
• Move beyond cost: measure the GCC on the outcomes it creates, not only the activity it handles.
• A useful test is simple: if the GCC stopped performing tomorrow, would the business feel the impact immediately?
• A GCC being established today should be designed for an AI-first operating environment from Day 1.
• AI is changing the skills companies need, how work is structured, what can be automated, and the productivity expected from teams.
• New GCCs have an opportunity to build AI into workflows, talent strategy, and operating models rather than retrofitting it later.
• Do not design today’s GCC around yesterday’s workforce model: build for the work and capabilities the business will need over the next five years.
• Make AI part of the setup strategy from the beginning – across talent, workflows, automation, productivity, and capability ownership.
Sonatype is a case in point. Its Hyderabad GCC, powered by Zinnov, is being built as the company’s largest and fastest-growing R&D hub globally. The center is expected to bring together 200+ engineers, product leaders, data scientists, and AI experts, with mandates spanning AI/ML-driven software security, cloud-native development, open-source intelligence, and global product delivery.
For CEOs, the takeaway is clear: AI should not be an additional capability introduced after the GCC is established. It should influence how the center is designed from Day 1: from the skills you hire and the work you locate in India to the operating model, workflows, and capabilities the GCC will ultimately own.
• Start with what is core to the business: identify capabilities that directly influence the product and customer experience, such as ADAS, software platforms, digital engineering, and other proprietary technologies.
• Assess what should move in-house: where large teams already work through partners, determine which capabilities are mission-critical, which can realistically transition, and what should remain outsourced.
• Phase the transition: start with the most strategic capabilities and bring others into the GCC over time rather than moving everything at once.
• Focus on talent density, not headcount: the goal is not simply to hire more people, but to build strong product and engineering capabilities.
• Start with capabilities, not headcount: do not begin with “We need 500 engineers in India.” Begin with “What globally important capability should our India GCC own?”
• Build for ownership, not just cost: the GCC should ultimately own capabilities that strengthen products, customer experience, innovation, and competitive advantage.
For most global companies, the difficult question is no longer simply “Why India?” It is how to turn the idea into an operating GCC, and then turn that GCC into a strategic capability.
That requires strategy and execution to come together- from determining what to build and where, through setup, hiring, and launch, and into scaling and transformation.
Zinnov brings experience across this journey, spanning business case and portfolio strategy, operating model, location strategy, leadership, legal and compliance, workspace, employer branding, talent acquisition, transition, onboarding, and ongoing operations.
For a CEO, the questions remain straightforward:
• What should we build?
• Where should we build it?
• Who should we hire?
• How should we launch it?
• How do we make it valuable to the global business?
Because ultimately, the goal is not simply to set up a GCC in India. It is to build a capability in India that the global organization comes to rely on for some of its most important work.
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