How 'Laughing Buddha' In Pokharan Permanently Altered India's Place In Global Politics
4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: May 14, 2026 11:24 AM IST Despite the rapid expansion of GCCs, policymakers believe that India still hosts relatively fewer global decision-making and senior leadership roles than it would like. (Magnific)India’s Global Capability Centre (GCC) ecosystem is undergoing rapid transformation, with multinational firms increasingly using their India centres not just for back-office operations but for AI development, engineering, research and global business functions. A recent report estimates India now hosts 2,117 GCCs employing 2.36 million professionals and generating nearly $98.4 billion in revenue in FY26. Global Capability Centres are offshore units set up by multinational corporations to handle strategic functions such as technology, engineering, operations, finance, research and product development for their global business. Initially established in India largely for cost arbitrage and back-office support, GCCs have steadily evolved into high-value hubs for innovation and engineering, driven by India’s large technology talent pool and digital ecosystem. Today, many GCCs are involved in AI development, cybersecurity, chip design, cloud engineering and enterprise transformation work for their parent companies worldwide.The report, prepared by IT industry lobby group Nasscom and consulting firm Zinnov, titled ‘The GCC Value Orbit’, says the sector has expanded by 32% over the last five years, with more than 500 new GCCs and 1,000 additional units set up during the period. However, despite the rapid expansion of Global Capability Centres, policymakers believe that India still hosts relatively fewer global decision-making and senior leadership roles than it would like. While engineering, operations and product mandates have grown sharply, strategic control and top-level corporate authority often continue to remain headquartered overseas. The report itself reflects this gap, noting that only 5% of GCCs have evolved into “transformation hubs” with CXO roles and functional sovereignty from India. Analysts say India’s next challenge will be moving beyond being a large execution and engineering base to becoming a location where multinational firms place more global business heads, AI leadership teams and enterprise-wide decision-making authority. From cost arbitrage to strategic ownership The report argues that India’s GCC story is no longer about low-cost outsourcing alone. Instead, global firms are increasingly assigning India centres ownership over products, AI systems, platforms and business outcomes. The report describes GCCs as evolving from “delivery engines” into “enterprise nerve centres”. AI sits at the centre of this shift. According to the report, more than 1,200 Global Capability Centres in India now have AI and machine learning capabilities, while over 250 operate dedicated AI/ML Centres of Excellence (CoEs). India’s GCC ecosystem also employs more than 250,000 AI professionals, making the country the world’s second-largest enterprise AI talent base after the United States.Story continues below this ad The report says India is increasingly anchoring the application and engineering layers of the global AI stack, with GCCs taking on work ranging from AI model engineering and enterprise AI deployment to chip design and AI-assisted software development. At the same time, firms are restructuring operations to become “AI-native”, with hiring increasingly focused on specialised AI and domain expertise instead of mass recruitment. GCCs versus IT services firms The rise of Global Capability Centres is also intensifying pressure on India’s traditional IT services industry, which has historically relied on labour-intensive outsourcing and time-and-materials contracts. Multinational firms are increasingly moving strategic work in-house through GCCs, weakening the dominance of India’s large outsourcing firms and intensifying competition for talent. Engineers are being drawn to GCCs due to better pay, pr
