Indian Global Capability Centres (GCCs) have evolved from cost-saving back offices into engines of innovation. Nitin Chandel, GVP and India Country Manager, UKG, says to sustain this momentum, true product ownership is now essential for unlocking talent, accelerating innovation and shaping global business outcomes.
Why Indian GCCs need to drive more product ownership
In 1985, when US-based Texas Instruments opened a modest R&D outpost in Bangalore, few could have imagined that it was planting the seed for a revolution in the way multinational companies operate in India. What began as a cautious experiment in cost-saving and leveraging India locations and talent for routine IT and back-office tasks has since morphed into a phenomenon that is not just supporting the global operations but is shaping it.
Today, Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India are no longer the ‘back office of the world’; they are the nerve centers of innovation. Walk into any gleaming tech park in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Pune or Chennai and you’ll find teams not just keep the operations going but designing products, harnessing AI and steering Digital Transformation for some of the world’s largest companies.
In the last decade, Indian GCCs have transformed into an extended arm of their HQs. Global firms are no longer here just to save money; they are here because of the talent pool that can help innovate and shape their future.
And the numbers tell their own tale. Today, India is home to over 1,700 GCCs employing more than 1.9 million people. The sector, valued at US$64.6 billion in FY2024, is projected to swell to as much as US$105 billion by 2030, according to NASSCOM and Zinnov. The explosive growth validates one thing above all: global corporations are increasingly seeing India as a center of innovation.
Evolution from back-office to innovation hubs
GCCs have become the talk of the town in both mainstream media and across the industry. The story has moved far beyond cost arbitrage – today, GCCs are seen as true engines of innovation. And nowhere else in the world has their transformation been as rapid and remarkable as in India.
In my two decades of working with global enterprises and leading GCCs, in financial services, banks and now at UKG, I’ve had a front-row seat to this evolution.
At UKG, our India Centre of Excellence reflects this journey beautifully. We started modestly back in 2007 and today we’re a 3,500+ strong team spread across Noida, Pune and smaller hubs in Bengaluru and Mumbai. But more than the scale, it’s the impact we have globally that excites me.
Our teams here are driving critical R&D, global product engineering and customer success. In fact, some of our most ambitious AI-first initiatives are being led entirely from India – proof that these locations can shape the future of work itself.
Why product ownership is key to driving innovation
When India’s GCCs first came into being, they were largely seen as the delivery arms – executing instructions sent from headquarters thousands of miles away. The mandate was narrow: cut costs, deliver efficiency and keep the operations going.
But over the years, the landscape has completely changed. A team of an HR tech company in Bengaluru working on a payroll module, for instance, now moves beyond coding what was handed down. They are spotting gaps, proposing new features and asking bigger questions.
What if compliance could be automated? What if scheduling could adapt in real time to workforce demand?
Slowly, their role has grown from executing to solving problems.
Today, many GCCs – including ours at UKG – are trusted with complete product ownership. That means we own the journey of a product from its very first sketch on the whiteboard to its launch in the hands of customers worldwide.
The cycle begins with defining the product roadmap – what problem are we solving, who are we solving it for and how will it fit into the larger business vision? From there, the teams drive innovation, experiment with prototypes and validate ideas with real-world users.
Along the way, they manage global stakeholders, balancing customer needs, compliance requirements and market demands.
And when the product is finally built, tested and launched, it’s still not the end. GCC teams continue to own the lifecycle, monitoring adoption, gathering feedback and refining features to keep the product relevant and impactful.
This shift is about deep product leadership and having the confidence and capability to sit at the same table as headquarters and say: We’ve got this. We’ll take it from here.
That’s the true transformation of India’s GCCs. From cost centres to capability centres and now to custodians of entire product lifecycles, rethinking how global companies innovate and compete.
The missed opportunity when GCCs are limited to delivery and not decision-making
For many global companies, their India GCCs still remain stuck in the shadows of headquarters, boxed into the role of efficient delivery arms. They execute flawlessly but only on instructions handed down, never shaping the strategy themselves.
The irony is striking: in a country brimming with world-class talent in AI, design and product leadership, much of that potential lies underutilised.
When capability centres are denied decision-making power, they miss the chance to own the product lifecycle – to dream, to design, to lead innovation. The result is more than just stifled creativity; it’s a slower response to market shifts, missed innovation cycles and eventually a diminished strategic relevance.
In holding GCCs back from being decision makers, enterprises are limiting India’s talent and limiting their own future. GCCs that don’t evolve into decision making and innovation hubs risk being seen as cost-saving centers only.
The rising aspirations of Indian tech talents in GCCs
Today, more and more top tech talent is starting their careers or even pivoting mid-way into GCCs rather than traditional IT companies. And the rationale is clear.
These professionals aren’t just looking at compensation, though the remuneration is certainly attractive. What draws them in is the promise of freedom – the space to express creativity, to lead innovation and to see their ideas come alive in products used across the world.
Their aspirations have shifted dramatically from the days when stability or a steady paycheck was enough. The new generation of engineers, product managers and designers want to shape outcomes. They want impact, they want ownership and they want their work to matter.
And this is exactly where the real challenge lies: if capability centres don’t move beyond delivery roles and offer true product ownership, they risk frustrating this ambition.
Bright young engineers, full of ideas, lose their spark when they’re boxed into execution alone. Many don’t stick around; they move to start-ups or global tech giants where their aspirations can breathe.
For GCCs, this is both the biggest risk and the biggest opportunity, because when talent is trusted with ownership, they thrive and they push the organisation to new frontiers of innovation.
GCCs need to evolve or it will be a missed opportunity to power their transformation
The future of GCCs in India will be defined by how much trust and ownership global enterprises are willing to place in their India teams.
The choice is clear: treat GCCs as mere extensions of headquarters and risk losing relevance or empower them as true decision-making hubs and unlock their potential to lead global innovation.
