The reasons global companies choose India for their capability centres are changing fast. What began as a cost driven decision is now shaped by influence, depth and strategic relevance. As automation reduces the value of repetitive work, enterprises are reassessing what truly anchors their global operations in one location.
In the past, India’s appeal came from affordable talent and predictable delivery at scale. That model worked well when routine tasks could be expanded with ease. Today, AI is automating much of that work, weakening the original cost advantage. Yet the momentum toward India has not slowed. The question many leaders are asking is why global capability centres continue to deepen their presence here.
The answer lies in how India is now positioned inside the enterprise. Global firms no longer see India as a back office or execution arm. Instead, it is becoming a place where thinking, decision making and building happen together. This shift is evident in how leaders describe their India operations. Amit Kalra, managing director of Swiss Re GBS, said that as centres mature, they stop being seen as separate entities. “There is absolutely no difference between India and headquarters.” For companies running critical functions from India, the boundary between where decisions are made and where work is delivered has largely disappeared.
AI has accelerated this transition rather than weakening it. As organisations move from pilots to workflow level automation, capability centres are now embedded in the core systems that run the business. They manage and interpret the workflows that AI systems depend on. Ramkumar Narayanan of FIS explained this shift clearly when he said, “AI’s biggest impact will be on the workflow, not the task. If you do not understand the workflow, how do you influence it?” India increasingly holds that understanding, with ownership across engineering, risk, cybersecurity, finance, product operations and AI governance. Michael Mustian, India country chair at ExxonMobil, noted that these centres now “connect dots across global functions and also externally with government and stakeholders,” giving them a far stronger role in shaping enterprise outcomes.
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