Beyond Cost-Arbitrage: GBS as the Epicenter of Enterprise-Wide Transformation

For decades, the narrative surrounding Global Capability Centers (GCCs) in India was written in the ink of "cost arbitrage." It was a story of labor-cost differentials, back-office processing, and efficiency gains. But as we move further into 2025, that narrative has been fundamentally disrupted. The modern GCC is no longer a peripheral support function; it has emerged as the heartbeat of global corporate strategy.

In a recent high-level panel discussion led by Divesh Singla, Recognised Global Operations & Digital Transformation Executive and Award-Winning GCC Leader in Life Sciences & Healthcare Tech, a group of distinguished industry veterans gathered to dissect this evolution. From the nuances of AI disruption to the "tipping point" of strategic ownership, the conversation provided a roadmap for how GCCs are transitioning from execution engines to value-creating sovereigns.

The Tipping Point: From "Doing" to "Owning"

The journey of a GCC is often viewed as a linear maturity curve, but as Pancham Taneja, Country Head of Delta Capita India, noted, the real shift is psychological. It is the transition from execution to ownership.

"The 'why' behind a GCC determines its ceiling," Taneja explained. While younger GCCs may still be navigating the waters of pure execution, the mature entities—some with 20 to 30 years of heritage in India—have become innovation hubs. The indicators of this tipping point are clear: when a center moves from just having talent to having the right talent that takes full ownership of problems, the value proposition changes.

Suresh Kuruvadi, Director at the Global Council of Global Business Services, argued that the ultimate litmus test for maturity is end-to-end process ownership. When a GCC in India manages the entire Purchase-to-Pay (P2P) cycle or a global supply chain—directly impacting both top-line revenue and bottom-line margins—it ceases to be an "offshore unit" and becomes a strategic partner.

Cultivating a "No-Low-Hanging-Fruit" Innovation Culture
Innovation is often a buzzword, but the panel treated it as a rigorous business discipline. According to Taneja, innovation doesn’t happen by accident; it requires "strategic intent and cultural openness."

One of the most striking insights was the democratization of ideation. The panel highlighted that fresh perspectives often outperform legacy experience in the digital age. Taneja shared an example where interns outperformed seasoned coders in a hackathon by simply "thinking outside the box." To foster this, GCCs must:

Embrace the "Ideathon" Culture: Creating safe spaces for experimentation where the fear of failure is removed.

Maintain Transparency: Not every idea can be implemented, but every idea must be acknowledged.

Leverage Junior Talent: Combining the wisdom of experienced leaders with the "digitally native" intuition of younger employees.

Futureproofing Talent: The AI Wave
The conversation naturally turned to the elephant in the room: Generative AI and skills disruption. Soumya Datta Ex Director- Infrastructure & Cloud, GCC transformation leader, LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group), an Infrastructure & Cloud veteran, reframed AI not as a threat, but as an "enabling new wave."

The challenge for GCCs today is not just hiring for AI, but structured skill mapping. Organizations must identify where manual data collection ends and analytical interpretation begins. Future-ready talent requires:

AI Fluency: The ability to work alongside "bots" and AI agents.

Analytical Judgment: Moving from "gathering data" to "interpreting AI-generated insights."

Governance Mindset: Ensuring that AI usage remains ethical and compliant with global standards.

"We are moving toward a hybrid workforce," Soumya Datta Ex Director- Infrastructure & Cloud, GCC transformation leader, LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) noted. "Leadership now involves managing a blend of human empathy and robotic precision."

Strategic Alignment: The Mirror Image Strategy
A common pitfall for many GCCs is operating in a silo, disconnected from the parent organization’s heartbeat. To achieve long-term sustainability, the panel emphasized that a GCC should be a "mirror image" of the parent company.

This means aligning verticals, functions, and even corporate culture so seamlessly that the geographic distance becomes irrelevant. Divesh Singla and the panel identified several key enablers for this alignment:

Executive Sponsorship: Having "skin in the game" from the C-suite at headquarters.

Multiple Sponsors: To prevent strategic drift when a single leader moves on.

Transparency of Outcome: Ensuring that teams in India have clear visibility into customer satisfaction and product performance.

Redefining Customer Centricity
A common criticism of the GCC model is the lack of "proximity to the customer." However, Singla challenged this notion, arguing that customer centricity is about context, not physical location.