India-based Global Capability Centers (GCCs) are moving beyond traditional cost arbitrage to become strategic hubs for AI, innovation, and global decision-making. According to EY Pulse 2025, 58% of GCCs are currently investing in Agentic AI, with another 29% planning to scale in the coming year. Generative AI adoption is also accelerating, with 83% of GCCs investing and pilots increasing from 37% in 2024 to 43% in 2025
AI and GenAI Adoption
- GCCs are leveraging Agentic AI and GenAI to enhance critical business functions: o Customer service: 65% o Finance: 53% o Operations: 49% o IT and cybersecurity: 45%
- Business intelligence adoption has grown from 80% to 86%, and data strategy from 51% to 67%.
- Two-thirds of GCCs (67%) have dedicated innovation teams and incubation programs to generate, test, and globalize ideas from India.
Strategic Decision-Making
- GCCs are increasingly taking global responsibilities: o 52% hold shared accountability for global decisions o 26% are formally consulted o 20% aim for full ownership of select functions
- India GCCs now influence global strategy (45%) and leadership pipeline development (35%), moving from execution-only roles to strategic decision centers.
Talent and Workforce Trends
- GCCs prioritize reskilling (71%) and tech-led growth (70%), with focus on: o AI & ML expertise (63%) o Data engineering & BI (54%) o Domain expertise (66%)
- Upskilling programs: 81% of GCCs are training internal teams on GenAI
- Attrition reduction: From 13% in 2023 to 9% in 2025, indicating stronger retention strategies.
Strategy and Operating Models
- Digital transformation is the top priority (61%), followed by:
- Reducing costs (54%)
- Expanding functional scope (51%)
- Budget allocation focuses on:
- Technology & transformation (25%)
- Talent & workforce (23%)
- 92% of centers aim to deliver value beyond cost arbitrage, managing end-to-end global processes.
- In-house operations dominate at 84%, while outsourcing has risen modestly from 8% to 12%.
Governance, Risk, and Compliance
- Cybersecurity maturity is moderate; only 7% have fully embedded CoEs.
- Third-party access monitoring increased from 44% to 60%.
- Regulatory concerns include:
- Transfer pricing (63%)
- Compliance complexity & data privacy (42%)
- SEZ/STPI regulations, labor laws, currency repatriation, and double taxation are becoming less challenging.
- The EY Intelligent GCC Solution Suite
- EY launched a comprehensive AI-powered solution suite for GCCs:
- Design AI-native GCCs
- Overhaul value chains with autonomous intelligence
- Build an AI-fluent workforce
- Embed responsible AI governance
- The suite leverages EY.AI and experience across 500+ GCCs, helping India GCCs scale efficiently.
- EY launched a comprehensive AI-powered solution suite for GCCs:
Conclusion
Indian GCCs are evolving from delivery centers to global innovation and strategic hubs. With AI adoption, data-driven decision-making, and talent upskilling, they are now integral to enterprise-level strategies, driving transformation across finance, operations, IT, and customer experience.
India GCCs are poised to continue their journey as intelligent, agentic centers of excellence, shaping the global operations of multinational enterprises.
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