India’s GCCs trade hefty headcount for specialised talent

Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are increasingly becoming smaller, leaner and engineering-led as companies focus on building specialised teams around artificial intelligence (AI) and product engineering rather than expanding scale and headcount, a TOI report showed.

According to a 2024 report by technology industry body Nasscom, India’s GCC market is expected to reach $100 billion by 2030, up from $64.6 billion in 2024. Employment in the sector is also expected to cross 2.5 million from 1.9 million during the same period.

The TOI report, citing Nasscom data, highlighted a growing trend in India, the world’s largest GCC hub. The data showed that more than 420 GCCs in the country have parent companies with revenues of less than $100 million, considered smaller enterprises in the sector.


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Among these smaller enterprises, Nasscom cited frozen foods maker McCain GCCs now influence up to $55 billion of India's IT services exports: DeloitteFoods, CoreStack, Blueshift, Veryon, Greenlight and Ava Care.

The report cited US audio major Bose Professional’s R&D centre in Mangaluru as an example of the shift. The centre started with one employee and grew to 25, with plans to scale up to 75.

GCCs now contribute $45 billion-$55 billion to India’s IT services exports as companies increasingly shift enterprise technology decisions to their India centres, ET reported earlier this year, citing Deloitte India.

Smaller teams, bigger strategic roles

Arindam Sen, GCC sector leader (TMT) at EY India, told TOI that “headcount alone should not define the category or determine the strategic relevance of a GCC.”

He said access to specialised talent, faster product development, intellectual property ownership and resilience can justify a smaller centre.

Lalit Ahuja, founder of consulting firm ANSR, said AI is allowing companies to accomplish more with smaller teams, making it possible for companies to start with teams of 20 or fewer focused on specialised capabilities, according to the report.

Ahuja said some AI-native GCCs operate with a permanent core comprising roughly 50%-70% of their workforce, while some are trimming their initial workforce assumptions by 30%-50%.

He added that the resulting productivity gains are changing how GCC performance is assessed, with metrics now including faster time to market, improved quality and execution, a shrinking technology backlog and the ability to take on more high-value work.

AI changes the GCC growth playbook

The report also cited Nikita Goel, managing partner at consulting firm Zinnov, as saying that it takes about six years for a company with less than $100 million in revenue to cross that milestone.

Also Read: GCCs now influence up to $55 billion of India's IT services exports: Deloitte

However, a fast-growing minority of companies in AI, deep tech and vertical SaaS can grow much faster, at about 40%-70% annually, making headcount an inadequate measure of a GCC’s importance.

“What actually matters is value density, whether that team owns a global product or a critical AI capability, and how fast the parent starts routing more strategic work there,” Goel said.

Sen added that “the real question is not whether the centre is large enough, but whether it owns outcomes that matter to the enterprise.”