The GCC Renaissance – Why Enterprises are Rethinking Their Global Strategies

By Prasoon Agrawal, Senior Vice President – BFSI & Americas, PureSoftware

The Global Capability Center (GCC) model has fundamentally shifted from one that was once a cost-optimized back office to now being a strategic hub for innovation, transformation, and value creation. What we are witnessing today is not just a revival of the GCC model, it is a total redefinition of its purpose, scale, and impact.

The Great Realignment of Global Talent

As digital transformation accelerated post-pandemic, businesses started exploring more distributed talent models. Hybrid work and borderless hiring have introduced a new dimension of consideration when it comes to talent, as many enterprises seek to hire niche skills like AI/ML, data science, and cybersecurity, among others. All regions are increasingly pursuing their own GCC initiatives, but Asia-Pacific continues to be the region of choice, with India still at the center of nearly each initiative, followed by Eastern Europe and Latin America, due to the human capital and time zones aligned with the U.S. for example.

Today, GCCs comprise cross-functional, industry-specialized talent as opposed to the previous models that were IT or operations pureplay. For example, in the BFSI industry, GCCs are driving banking innovations around digital banking, whereas in Life Sciences, GCCs are supporting R&D, regulatory operations, and integrating AI as an enabler of success.

From Scale to Specialization

An explicit trend is the move ‘from scale to specialization’. Organizations no longer are at a point where they want to build out massive headcounts in offshore locations. They are instead investing in smaller, high-performing units with deep capabilities in emerging technologies. These new-age GCCs are tightly integrated with the enterprise’s strategic priorities and are often disruptive in the areas of automation, sustainability and customer experience.

For instance, a leading US insurer established a new Global Capability Center in Hyderabad to expand beyond traditional IT roles. This center now spearheads application development, cloud engineering, data science, and analytics, elevating its function from a support center to a strategic innovation hub that powers global operations and digital transformation.

Digital-First and AI-Native Centers

Another macro trend is ‘AI-native’ GCCs, centers that are built from the ground up with data and AI as the fabric. These are not merely labs for experimenting; they are charged with building scalable AI platforms, managing global data infrastructure and establishing responsible AI governance at the geographical level.

Cloud, cybersecurity, and DevSecOps are currently top-of-mind. We are seeing GCCs increasingly fulfill the role of control towers for cloud modernization programs and the enterprise-wide security posture.

Changing Operating Models

GCCs’ operating models are burgeoning to be more agile and ecosystem-led. Major companies are colocating innovation labs, university partnerships, and startup accelerators with their GCCs. We are also seeing the emergence of ‘networked GCCs’ where centers across geographies operate jointly guided by time zones and capabilities rather than by hierarchy.

Governance models are changing too. While some companies run captive centers, others are using Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) or hybrid models with strategic technology partners. The flexibility provided by these governance structures allows for accelerated scaling and local expertise.

Talent and Culture as Differentiators

Talent is no longer about available talent – it is about being ready. The best performing GCCs invest in a culture of continuous skilling, leadership grooming, and cultural integration. They create latitude for intrapreneurship, allow for cross-functional mobility and seek to align incentives with business performance.

The emergence of ‘reverse innovation’, where organizations are exporting solutions developed in GCCs to home markets, is particularly encouraging. This demonstrates the maturity and global reach that these centers are developing.

As we enter the next stage of enterprise globalization, we find the GCC model at a critical juncture. The transition from cost to capability, and from service to strategy is real and irreversible. For enterprises aiming to build future-ready operations, rethinking their global delivery model is no longer an option; it is a necessity.

Learn more on how today’s GCCs are reshaping global operating models by downloading our latest whitepaper here.