When Chakravarthy Aravapalli returned to India after several years of SAP consulting in the US, Reckitt’s Hyderabad centre was still finding its place within the global organisation. At the time, global capability centres were largely viewed as execution focused units rather than drivers of transformation. “You need to build an identity. There is a team that is sitting outside…so you need to create a brand for that team. What we looked at initially was to pick up large scale transformation. Innovation need not always be about something to create new. It is also about how we do things,” said Aravapalli, vice president IT and D, ERP and centre head of Reckitt’s GCC.
Instead of following a traditional model of scaling headcount first, the India centre was built with value creation at its core. The focus was on owning global digital programmes, modernising data platforms, and driving innovation across supply chain, manufacturing, and commercial operations. “We were able to drive that transformation because we brought in the right talent, who had deep technology experience, and worked across countries and industries. And hence, we were able to get the talent onto a burning and a running train and still lead these efforts from year 1,” Aravapalli said.
Formerly known as Reckitt Benckiser, the global consumer goods company operates well known brands such as Dettol, Lysol, Vanish, and Air Wick. Over time, the Hyderabad centre has taken charge of enterprise platforms, AI driven solutions, and end to end delivery across critical functions. For Aravapalli, this reflects a larger shift in how India’s GCCs are viewed globally. “The heart of it is value creation. Whether it was seen as a back office or cost as a dimension…or whether it is seen today as transformational engines. The core of all this is value,” he said.
India’s rise as a preferred GCC destination, according to Aravapalli, is driven by scale, depth of skills, and strong ambition among professionals. He highlighted the country’s young talent pool, strong academic ecosystem, and leadership aspirations as key advantages. Reckitt also operates 3 R and D facilities in India, including a vector borne disease Entomology Centre of Excellence in Gurgaon. The India GCC recently led a major S and 4 HANA rollout entirely from Hyderabad. The centre also adopted AI early, building its first HR chatbot in 2019 and AI led talent screening in 2020. “The beauty of working in a GCC is you have the business along with you,” he said. “You are part of the business. The aim is, can we get people in our GCC to be the next CIO or the next CEO?”
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