India’s Global Capability Centres are entering a new phase of transformation as artificial intelligence reshapes how these centres operate. A recent report by a tech focused hiring firm shows that GCCs are shifting away from traditional back office models and moving toward product led, innovation driven and governance focused structures.
According to the report, AI adoption across GCCs is expected to expand the workforce by eleven percent over the next year, taking the total employee base to 2.4 million. By 2030, the ecosystem could add another 1.3 million jobs as AI native roles grow across engineering, operations and governance. The findings show that fifty eight percent of GCCs have already moved beyond pilot stage in AI deployment, with thirty one percent scaling AI across business units and thirteen percent fully embedding it into enterprise workflows. As this transition accelerates, companies are investing heavily in capability building and strengthening in house talent.
“The need for good talent for the emerging skills will continue to be there,” said Varun Sachdeva, SVP and head APAC at the hiring firm. He added that India is emerging as the second largest AI talent hub after the United States, with around six hundred thousand AI professionals today. This number is expected to reach 1.25 million by 2027, accounting for sixteen percent of global AI talent.
The industry is also facing rising wage inflation of twenty five percent in AI and digital roles, along with an attrition rate of twenty six percent. These pressures are pushing GCCs to expand internal learning academies, build curriculum partnerships and redesign workforce structures to reduce dependence on external talent. “With the growth of GCCs and the new age technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics capabilities, there will be some sort of a war for talent, and with all the growth on the GCC side, it will intensify,” Sachdeva said.
AI is also reshaping job roles. Emerging positions such as AI governance architects, prompt engineers and GenAI product owners are gaining prominence, with mid level technical roles expected to undergo the fastest redesign. However, shortages are growing in leadership talent and AI native functions, especially across core operations and senior leadership pipelines. The report notes that GCCs are addressing these gaps by forming multidisciplinary teams and designing structured reskilling paths, already adopted by eighteen percent of centres.
Alongside these shifts, operating models are undergoing a fundamental reset. Legacy roles like L1 IT support and traditional application development are rapidly declining as centres migrate to cloud first and AI engineered delivery approaches. Decentralisation is also rising, with thirty nine percent of GCC employees expected to be based in Tier 2 and Tier 3 locations by 2030 due to expanding talent pools and lower operational costs. Investment priorities for 2025 include GenAI skill development, AI enabled operations and Responsible AI frameworks, indicating a future shaped by deeper automation and smarter governance.
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