A major shift is underway in how global companies use their India based teams, with the country preparing to take on a far larger role in innovation, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
According to a new industry outlook by a consulting firm in India, the country is expected to strengthen its position as the world’s most important centre for Global Capability Centres in 2026. These centres, once known mainly for back office support, are now becoming core drivers of digital transformation and advanced engineering for multinational firms.
The report highlights a major change in how success will be measured. “In 2026, the value of GCCs will be measured by business outcomes, customer satisfaction, product velocity, risk reduction, not just cost savings.” This signals a clear move away from the long standing cost arbitrage model that once defined India’s outsourcing rise.
Global companies across sectors such as automotive, aerospace, banking and technology are now giving Indian teams full ownership of the product life cycle. This includes design, architecture, testing and customer feedback. As a result, India is fast emerging as the engineering brain behind many global enterprises.
Artificial intelligence and cybersecurity are becoming the two strongest pillars of this transformation. India based GCCs are expected to serve as the main hubs where companies design, test and run AI driven systems, ranging from automated finance to software development. At the same time, due to rising cyber risks and stricter data laws, Indian centres are also being positioned as round the clock global security and compliance headquarters.
This growing strategic role brings new challenges. Demand for AI engineers, cybersecurity professionals and product managers is rising faster than supply. This is pushing up salaries and increasing talent churn. GCCs must also manage the pressure to remain cost efficient while delivering advanced innovation and deep engineering work.
To ease pressure on major metros, the next phase of growth is moving into tier two cities. Places such as Coimbatore, Jaipur, Vadodara, Kochi, Bhubaneswar and Chandigarh are gaining traction due to strong talent pools, lower attrition and supportive state incentives. The report recommends a metro plus tier two model, where senior leadership and complex work remain in major cities while scale comes from emerging urban centres.
Managing hybrid work and coordinating with global teams across time zones is another key challenge. However, India’s growing strength in leading distributed teams is now seen as an added competitive advantage.
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