What Makes a Successful GCC? 5 Best Practices from Industry Leaders

“GCCs are synonymous with ‘Make in India’ and will continue to fuel unprecedented, sustainable growth, establishing India as a global”- Lalit Ahuja, Founder & CEO of ANSR Inc.

How can we measure the success of a GCC in India? What companies must do to get the best outcomes from their GCCs?

Global Capability Centers (GCCs) in India are experiencing extraordinary growth, rapidly evolving from cost-efficient delivery hubs to high-value innovation engines. The GCC market in India is projected to stretch to $ 99–105 billion by 2030. As businesses speed up digital transformation like never before, India’s GCCs are taking on strategic roles, driving product development, data-led decision-making, automation, & global operational excellence.

For companies exploring new GCC setups or struggling to enhance existing GCC operations, understanding what drives success is paramount. Moreover, strong leadership, talent depth, innovation mindset, operational maturity, & a clear value-creation roadmap define high-octane GCCs. Let’s explore and gather insights on the hallmarks, key factors, & best leadership practices powering India’s most successful GCCs.

What are the Hallmarks of a Successful GCC?

Here are 5 indicators of successful GCC in India:

1. Strong Sync with Enterprise Strategy

A successful GCC operates as an extension of the global organisation, aligning fully with enterprise goals. By developing GCC talent capabilities on a full scale, companies can drive strategic priorities & contribute measurable business outcomes rather than operating as a transactional offshore unit.

2. Deep Focus on Innovation & Value Creation

Top GCCs evolve beyond cost savings, owning end-to-end product capabilities, building IP, enabling digital transformation, & consistently delivering innovation that speeds up enterprise competitiveness across markets.

3. High-Quality, Future-Ready Talent Ecosystem

A model GGC invests in continuous upskilling, leadership development, & advanced technology capabilities. Such strategic investments nurture a talent pipeline that supports complex, high-impact work across emerging tech like AI, cloud, cybersecurity, & analytics.

4. Mature Operating Model and Governance

Successful GCCs leverage robust processes, agile delivery models, clear governance structures, & strong performance metrics. They make sure predictable operations, higher productivity, & seamless collaboration are attained with global business teams across 365 days.

5. Culture of Collaboration and Customer-Centricity

Globally proven GCCs build a cohesive internal culture that encourages cross-functional collaboration, ownership, & customer-focused delivery. These qualities enable the GCC to operate as a trusted global partner rather than a support system.

Top 8 Factors that make a GCC Successful in India?

1. Ability to Build Strong Domain-Centric Expertise

Successful GCCs invest deeply in industry-specific knowledge, such as banking, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing, enabling them to take on specialised, high-value work. This domain strength helps them in developing GCC talent capabilities that position them as strategic global capability partners.

Through GCC leadership best practices and technology integration, companies are projected to drive 40% of the world’s digital transformation projects in the coming years. Furthermore, over 185 GCCs in India have established dedicated AI/Machine Learning Centers of Excellence (CoEs).

2. Strong Focus on Compliance, Risk, and Regulatory Excellence

Leading GCCs maintain uncompromised compliance frameworks, risk controls, & data governance standards that are strictly aligned with global policies. This strengthens enterprise confidence, ensures security, & enables the centre to handle sensitive, business-critical operations with complete integrity and trustworthiness.

Nearly 85% of global executives report that compliance requirements have become more complex in the last three years (across all sectors).

3. Rapid Adoption of Hybrid and Future-of-Work Models

Top GCCs embrace flexible work models, hybrid cultures, outcome-based performance systems, & modern workplace technologies. These innovation best practices in GCCs boost agility, enhance employee satisfaction, & support seamless collaboration with global teams across time zones and business units. Over 60% of GCCs in India report measurable gains in productivity and profitability directly resulting from hybrid models.

4. Strong Investments in Leadership and Managerial Depth

Successful GCCs cultivate strong managerial capability through leadership programs, internal succession pipelines, and global exposure opportunities. Such GCC leadership best practices ensure the centre is equipped with experienced leaders who can scale teams, manage complexity, & deliver strategic impact.

The number of Indian professionals transitioning to global leadership roles (VP, SVP, CXO) within their GCCs is projected to grow from merely 5,000 in 2022 to 30,000+ by 2030.

5. Ability to Drive Enterprise-Wide Shared Services Excellence

GCCs that excel in shared services like finance, HR, procurement, legal, and digital operations create big enterprise value. Moreover, standardised processes, automation, & advanced service delivery models allow GCCS to run large-scale operations with efficiency & global consistency. According to surveys, approximately 73% of all new GCCs are being established as multi-functional hubs, covering IT, Business Process Management (BPM), and Engineering R&D.

6. Strong Vendor, Partner, and Ecosystem Collaboration

High-performing GCCs actively collaborate with technology vendors, consulting firms, training institutes, & innovation hubs. Developing GCC talent capabilities through such partnerships enables faster capacity building, quicker adoption of emerging tools, & continuous infusion of new thinking and expertise into the GCC ecosystem.

Leading GCCs are actively signing Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with premier academic institutions (e.g., IITs, IIITs, top state universities) to co-develop curriculum, establish dedicated learning labs, and run internship programs.

7. Focus on Building a Strong Internal Brand and Culture

Successful GCCs establish their own identity, distinct culture, values, career pathways, & learning ecosystems through robust GCC talent management strategies. A strong internal employer brand attracts top-tier talent, builds loyalty, and positions the GCC as a destination workplace within India’s competitive talent market. Around 51% of GCCs in India cite talent retention as their top concern. The churn is most acute among early-career professionals, highlighting the need for strong career pathways and a compelling Employee Value Proposition (EVP).

8. Ability to Scale Multi-Disciplinary Centres of Excellence (CoEs)

GCCs that build CoEs across analytics, cybersecurity, cloud, automation, & design rapidly skyrocket enterprise value. These multi-disciplinary hubs drive innovation, accelerate digital programs, & enable the centre to handle end-to-end ownership of specialised global functions. Engineering Research and Development (ER&D) GCCs, which inherently operate as high-value CoEs, are growing 1.3 times faster than the overall GCC market in India, signalling a clear shift towards complex innovation work.

What are the 5 Leadership best practices for Setting Up a High-Impact GCC in India?

Here are 5 GCC leadership best practices every company must follow to get the right results:

1. Lead with a Clear Vision and Enterprise Alignment

GCC leaders must marshal their troops by establishing a clear purpose aligned with global strategy. This ensures all involved teams acknowledge the GCC’s long-term mandate. The clarity of such an approach drives consistent decision-making, stronger stakeholder confidence, & smooth integration with global business priorities. High-performing GCCs are now expected to drive 40% of global digital transformation projects & evolve into multi-domain Centers of Excellence (CoEs)

Example: A global insurer’s Indian GCC counterpart set a 3-year vision roadmap, enabling clear mandate alignment & securing ownership of multiple enterprise transformation programs.

2. Build a Strong Leadership Bench with Local-Global Balance

A high-impact GCC necessitates leaders who have an in-depth grasp of India’s talent landscape, complete awareness of future trends impacting GCC success, & global enterprise expectations. Developing a rightly mixed leadership team with cross-cultural experience, functional depth, & a strategic mindset enables the centre to scale sustainably & handle complex mandates with relative ease.

Example: A US healthcare giant established dual-location leadership teams, coupling India-based domain experts & global leaders to drive home seamless cross-border execution.

3. Foster a Culture of Ownership, Innovation, and Accountability

Leaders should advocate autonomy, empower teams to take ownership of outcomes, & promptly reward innovation. Establishing accountability frameworks & embedding a problem-solving culture, combined with first-hand GCC talent management strategies, ensures the centre evolves from a support unit into a value-creating strategic partner for the enterprise. Moreover, numerous successful GCCs now operate with independent roadmaps, dedicated budgets, & architectural decision-making authority for their product lines.

Example: A retail GCC empowered teams to own product modules, resulting in faster releases & measurable innovation across digital customer experience initiatives.

4. Prioritize People Development and Continuous Capability Building

Effective GCC leadership invests in structured upskilling, developing GCC talent capabilities, mentorship programs, & clear career pathways. This builds a future-ready workforce, reduces attrition, & equips teams to deliver high-value, multi-disciplinary work across emerging technologies and global transformation initiatives. According to broader talent-trend studies, approximately 51% of GCCs identify talent and retention as major issues requiring immediate attention.

Example: A technology GCC launched internal academies for cloud, AI, & cybersecurity, enabling rapid talent upskilling and reducing external hiring dependency significantly.

5. Strengthen Stakeholder Management and Transparent Communication

GCC leaders must maintain strong, proactive communication with global counterparts, consistently showcasing progress, impact, & capabilities. Moreover, Transparent engagement builds trust, attracts more ownership, and positions the GCC as an indispensable partner within the enterprise’s global operating model.

According to the 2025 report by Dun & Bradstreet India, India’s GCC ecosystem now is made up of over 1,900 centres & is projected to exceed 2,400 by 2030, underscoring increasing complexity & the need for clear global-stakeholder alignment.

Example: A global logistics GCC implemented quarterly global stakeholder reviews. This strategy paid off and improved visibility, trust, and won additional end-to-end ownership from enterprise leaders.

What are the Future trends Impacting GCC Success?

Here are 5 global trends shaping GCC success in 2026 and beyond:

1. AI-Driven Operating Models

GCCs are more than willing to adopt AI-led workflows, autonomous operations, & intelligent decision-support systems. Such innovation best practices in GCC enable faster execution, reduced manual effort, & the transformation of traditional support functions into high-value digital capability hubs. Currently, over 70% of GCCs in India are actively investing in or piloting Generative AI (GenAI) use cases.

2. Rise of Multi-Disciplinary Digital CoEs

Future GCCs will build Centres of Excellence (CoEs) across cloud, cybersecurity, data engineering, automation, & design. Such setups empower enterprises to consolidate expertise & scale innovation initiatives across global markets from a single strategic hub. India’s contribution to global innovation output is projected to explode from 5–7% currently to 15–20% by 2030, with GCCs being the primary force behind this growth.

3. Shift to Outcome-Based and Product-Centric Delivery

GCCs will soon move from task execution to owning product roadmaps, end-to-end digital initiatives, & measurable business outcomes. Through GCC leadership best practices, they are becoming core contributors to enterprise strategy rather than cost-optimised delivery engines. Approximately 60% of India’s mature GCCs are now managing end-to-end product development or complex analytics mandates, a significant jump from the figures less than 5 years ago.

4. Expansion into Tier-2 Talent Locations

As talent saturation rises in metros, GCCs will increasingly expand into Tier-2 cities to access untapped skilled talent, optimise costs, improve retention, & drive regional innovation-led growth. Such initiatives will help companies in developing GCC talent capabilities and create more revenue-generating opportunities. Industry forecasts indicate Tier-2 cities are expected to account for nearly 20-25% of all new GCC setups in India by 2027.

5. Stronger Focus on Cybersecurity, Governance, and Compliance

With rising global regulatory pressures and digital risks, GCCs will strengthen governance frameworks, invest in advanced security capabilities, & take ownership of enterprise-wide risk and compliance functions. Around 47% of GCCs are investing in AI specifically for cybersecurity use cases.

How can Alp Consulting help Companies Set Up Successful GCCs in India?

Alp Consulting, a leading GCC setup and implementation agency, supports enterprises in building high-impact GCCs in India by offering end-to-end solutions across talent strategy, workforce scaling, compliance management, & location advisory.

Leveraging 30 years’ worth of deep industry expertise & proven GCC leadership best practices, Alp helps companies establish strong operating models, hire future-ready talent, and design governance structures that ensure seamless integration with global teams. From capability development & leadership hiring to digital workforce transformation, ALP enables organisations to launch, stabilise, & scale GCCs that deliver innovation, operational excellence, and long-term strategic value in India’s rapidly evolving global capability ecosystem.

Key Takeaways

• Successful GCCs align tightly with enterprise strategy & operate as strategic global value creators.
• Strong leadership, deep domain expertise, and continuous capability building drive high-impact GCC performance.
• Innovation, digital adoption, & multi-disciplinary CoEs differentiate mature GCCs from emerging centres.
• Talent development, hybrid models, & strong internal culture ensure long-term GCC growth and competitiveness.
• Robust governance, compliance excellence, and stakeholder alignment enable scalable, resilient, future-ready GCC operations.

FAQs

1. What KPIs should companies use to measure GCC performance?

Companies investing in GCC centres must use KPIs like productivity, cost efficiency, innovation output, service quality, stakeholder satisfaction, digital maturity, & talent retention to evaluate GCC performance.

2. How can GCCs enhance collaboration across global teams?

Adopt unified communication platforms, define clear governance, enable cross-functional squads, ensure transparent reporting, & foster a strong culture of shared ownership.

3. What role does leadership play in accelerating GCC maturity?

GCC leadership best practices shape strategy, build capabilities, drive innovation, strengthen stakeholder trust, & create an empowered culture that accelerates GCC maturity.

4. How can GCCs stay competitive in talent-heavy markets?

GCCs can offer strong learning pathways, attractive career growth, flexible work models, innovation projects, & a compelling employer brand in developing GCC talent capabilities.

5. What capabilities differentiate a mature GCC from an emerging one?

Mature GCCs deliver end-to-end ownership, drive innovation, influence enterprise strategy, adopt advanced technologies, & operate with high autonomy and measurable impact.

Kishore V N

Managing Director

Kishore V N is the Managing Director at ALP Consulting, bringing over 29 years of extensive experience in global recruitment, talent strategy, and workforce solutions. He has been instrumental in building scalable RPO, MSP, and modular talent sourcing models that empower organizations with a competitive edge in talent acquisition. Kishore’s leadership focuses on expanding ALP’s global presence, driving innovation in recruitment technology, and enhancing operational excellence. He also serves as Director at Datacore Technologies, steering digital HR transformation through advanced HRMS and virtual staffing solutions.