Recently, Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani said at the company’s recent AGM calling GCCs “critical clients,” demystifying the popular view of Indian IT’s rivalry with GCCs.
In fact, IT companies now view GCCs as high-value clients and revenue streams, given the obvious reasons that India hosts 1,600+ GCCs with 120 new centres opened in 2024 alone.
GCCs have now emerged as centres for AI labs, core product development and strategic tech delivery aligning perfectly with the strengths of Indian IT firms. This requires GCCs to depend on IT companies for talent acquisition and specialised services.
As a result, Indian IT firms are productising the GCC build-and-run model — offering everything from legal setup, infrastructure, hiring, compliance, to delivery governance as a packaged service.
For example, LTIMindtree’s GaaS platform bundles services with its BlueVerse AI suite, enabling clients to launch AI-native GCCs from day one. Quess Corp launched Origint, focused solely on setting up and managing GCCs.
Major players like Infosys, Wipro, HCLTech, Tech Mahindra, and Cognizant have all appointed dedicated GCC business heads, indicating this as a serious long-term bet. In a recent interview with AIM, Maddee Hegde, EVP and head of GCC, Coforge, mentioned that the sheer scale of GCCs is expanding rapidly, which is fundamentally changing their requirements and roles. What once started as support units are now far more integral to core operations.
He explained that approximately “10% of our revenue comes from GCCs already,” highlighting their growing importance in the business.
Why do GCCs need IT companies?
Hegde said that while many can offer cost advantages, the real value for GCCs lies in accessing broader industry insights and capabilities.
Often operating in isolation limits exposure to evolving best practices for GCCs. Service providers, therefore, become essential partners by bringing in accelerators, frameworks, and proven methodologies that enhance the GCC ecosystem.
“If I am a GCC head and I have got to deliver on this innovation charter, I still have to deliver on the other things — on the basic capabilities that I do anyway,” Hegde noted, highlighting the dual pressures of innovation and operational excellence. Service providers offer flexibility, variable cost models and faster access to best practices.
Commenting on the role of emerging technologies like AI, Hegde noted that while basic automation can be achieved through tools like Robotic Process Automation (RPA), the current focus is on leveraging agentic AI to take automation to the next level. He emphasised the importance of deep domain expertise in this shift, explaining that although many solutions are built on the same large language models (LLMs), industry-specific knowledge makes a significant difference. According to him, this is where the company stands out with its hyper-specialised capabilities.
What about Midsized GCCs?
The current landscape of GCCs is increasingly resembling a barbell structure, as Hegde mentioned. On one end of the spectrum are highly specialised, smaller GCCs focused on cutting-edge innovation, often staffed with PhDs and deep domain experts working on next-gen solutions.
On the other end are large-scale GCCs operated by major enterprises like global banks, employing tens of thousands of professionals.
“In between lies a middle layer,” Hegde observed. “And I don’t mean to sound negative…all I’m saying is that layer actually has to really think. They are neither the small, specialised ones nor are they the ones with the scale.”
These mid-sized GCCs, he argued, will soon need to reassess their long-term value proposition. “I am almost forecasting it — two years down the line, I think we will have a slightly different dialogue with those people.”
The speaker emphasised that the needs across this barbell-shaped distribution are distinct. On the high-scale end, enterprises are increasingly opting for variable capacity models and seeking quicker time-to-market.
On the other hand, the smaller, innovation-centric GCCs are laser-focused on core R&D efforts and prefer to outsource the rest. “Why don’t you just take everything else and manage it for us?” is the prevailing attitude. These organisations rely on service providers for operational support, scalability, and access to frameworks and best practices.
Additionally, talent attraction is a critical concern—especially for smaller GCCs that may lack brand visibility.
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