From back offices to strategic hubs, GCCs in India shaping MNC operations

Gradually, leaders at India-based GCCs are gaining greater autonomy, influencing enterprise architecture and participating in budgeting, staffing, and other operational decisions

Global roles in India-based Global Capability Centres (GCCs) have surged from just 175 in 2015 to an impressive 6,500 by 2023, according to a report by consultancy firm Zinnov. The report, titled ‘India GCCs: A Sandbox for Global Leadership’, also predicts that global roles in India are likely to surpass 20,000 by 2030.

This trend, say experts, is transforming GCCs in India from effective back offices into pivotal centres that significantly influence the strategic decision-making of multinational companies. This evolution is enhancing the centres’ prominence, securing them substantial representation at the board table, Karthik Padmanabhan, managing partner for globalisation excellence practice at Zinnov, told The Economic Times.

India is home to over 1,600 GCCs, said the report attributing this growth to the country’s digitally skilled talent pool, which is the second-largest globally. The maturity of leadership roles within India – reflected in portfolio ownership, product conception, architectural decisions, and leadership across complete product lines – is evident from the fact that around 42 per cent of global headquarters manage end-to-end business solutions from the country.

Increased influence and autonomy

Mature GCCs in India are expected to have a greater influence on the global operations of multinational corporations (MNCs). This influence includes ownership of design, strategy, and outcomes for teams and stakeholders across various markets, alongside driving financial performance.

Currently, leaders at India-based GCCs enjoy greater autonomy and play a crucial role in enterprise architecture and processes, while advancing within the corporate hierarchy in core technology decision-making. In addition to product development and new offerings, Indian leaders are also getting a say in budgeting and staffing, among other operational decisions.

Recognition and impact

A PwC report on GCCs in India last year stated, “GCCs are no longer viewed as mere back-office support for multinationals; instead, they are key to building global solutions and generating additional revenue streams.” The report added, “The growth of the global sourcing sector has ensured the metamorphosis of GCCs into centres of excellence (CoEs), profit centres, programme management offices, and an innovation hotbed for emerging markets.”

Notable executives in leadership roles include Vijayaraman Subramanian, vice president and managing director at Verizon; Vijay Anand Veeraraghavan, director of architecture at ADP Solutions; Sapna Chaturvedi, director of customer excellence, EMEA & APAC at Merck Life Science; Anurag Bahadur, VP and global support engineering at Cloud Software Group; and Rathnaprabha Manickavachagam, MD and head of innovation for India and APAC at Morgan Stanley, among others, according to Zinnov data.