Last week, I attended a Global Capability Centers Summit in Hyderabad. Like most industry events, it brought together founders, GCC leaders, technology partners, consultants like me and a few policymakers. It is not yet a Gold Rush but I am positive that it can be and why shouldn’t it be. After many decades there is a national economic moment where India is redeeming what it meritoriously deserves. Skilled talent, abundant resources, prolific infrastructure and experienced leadership are the advantages India has. What stayed with me was meeting people and the conversations with them in between sessions. Everyone seemed to be discussing AI, enterprise transformation, product ownership and the growing role of Global Capability Centres in shaping global business outcomes.
The conversations I heard at the summit echoed what industry reports and leadership interviews have been signalling for some time. Across reports from industry bodies and conversations with enterprise leaders, one observation appeared consistently – ‘The role of the GCC is changing much faster than many organisations are communicating it.’
For years, we have described GCCs using terms such as delivery centres, shared services organisations or innovation hubs. Those descriptions reflected the role these centres played at different stages of their evolution. Enterprises looked to GCCs for operational excellence, cost optimisation and specialised capabilities. Success was often measured through scale and volume, efficiency and execution.
Today’s leading GCCs are being asked to do something very different. They are expected to build AI capabilities, own global products, manage cybersecurity, develop digital platforms, influence customer experience and contribute to enterprise strategy. Increasingly, they are accountable for business outcomes rather than business support. The new role of GCCs has moved much closer to the centre of enterprise decision-making.
Perhaps the traditional definition of a GCC is no longer enough. Maybe what we are witnessing is the emergence of an Enterprise Command Centre. But this is a case where even Shakespeare would be hesitant to say, “What’s in a name?” An Enterprise Command Centre or ECC (a term I use to describe this next stage of evolution) reflects an organisation that is deeply embedded in how a global enterprise functions and grows. What makes this shift remarkable is the volume and the velocity with which it is happening.
Artificial Intelligence has fundamentally changed the pace of enterprise transformation. Capabilities that organisations once planned over several years are now expected within months. New products are being developed faster. Decisions are increasingly supported by AI and global organisations expect their GCCs to experiment with enterprise-grade standards. This acceleration has also changed expectations from headquarters. They are looking for centres that can create intellectual property and strengthen competitive advantage. Headquarters don’t send work to India because work is cheaper. They increasingly send decision-making because capability is stronger.
While business has adapted to this new reality, I believe communications is still catching up and at a much slower pace. Many GCCs continue to communicate themselves through narratives built for an earlier phase of their evolution. Press releases still focus on office launches, hiring milestones, leadership appointments and workplace initiatives. I call them vanity metrics. They tell us what has happened, but very little about why it matters. The audience really wants to know the Why and How and not the What. The aspiring talent wants to know what products are being made, how it is innovation, and what is the business impact. Why should they leave Google’s R&D offer and join you? Are you creating products that they long to build? The policymakers want to understand the economic contribution of GCCs and the investors want evidence of long-term capability and business value. Why should they not go to the Philippines or Vietnam but build in India?
This calls for a different communications approach. The difference may appear a subtle pivot, but it fundamentally changes how a GCC is perceived. Reputation is built when an organisation explains the value it creates. Every industry reaches a stage where its vocabulary begins to lag behind its reality. I believe the GCC ecosystem has reached that point. The organisations are evolving rapidly, driven by AI, enterprise mandates and global business ownership. Their narratives now need to evolve at the same pace.
India’s GCC story has always been one of reinvention. The communications around GCCs now need to catch up with the organisations they are trying to represent. That is how Enterprise Command Centres will distinguish themselves in the years ahead.
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