Once viewed primarily as cost-effective back-office support units, Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are now undergoing a profound transformation. This evolution is referred to as GCC 4.0—a phase marked by bold digital reinvention, where these centres are transforming into strategic hubs of innovation, product engineering, and enterprise intelligence. As businesses pivot towards smarter operations and global resilience, AI (Artificial Intelligence) and cloud computing have emerged as the dual forces accelerating this transformation: unlocking agility, intelligence, and global delivery capabilities at scale.
Also read: Why the World’s Biggest Companies Are Betting on India’s GCC Ecosystem
This growing integration of AI and cloud platforms enable next-gen GCCs to move from operational support to delivering business-critical outcomes. AI is known for reshaping everything from predictive maintenance and fraud detection to intelligent customer support and real-time analytics, allowing businesses to pre-empt risks, personalize services, and make data-led decisions at speed. Meanwhile, cloud computing is powering the infrastructure backbone providing scalability, flexibility, and seamless integration of AI models across geographies and functions.
India’s Leadership in the GCC Landscape
India stands at the epicentre of this transformation. With over 1,700 GCCs employing more than 1.9 million professionals, the country commands 55% of the global GCC share. This dominance is no coincidence. India’s robust digital ecosystem, tech talent pool, and maturing innovation frameworks have positioned it as the preferred destination for AI and cloud-driven transformation. And the trajectory only points upward—by 2030, India is projected to host 2,200 to 2,500 GCCs, with the market size soaring to US$110 billion.
What makes India so well-positioned? It’s a combination of factors: a growing base of hyperscale data centres, a mature ecosystem of local cloud providers, and increasing enterprise adoption of hybrid and multi-cloud strategies. Global tech giants and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) service providers are working in tandem to offer integrated platforms that combine AI-driven analytics with scalable cloud infrastructures, enabling remote delivery, real-time collaboration, and agile development cycles.
AI + Cloud equals Next-Gen Business Intelligence
In the GCC 4.0 framework, AI goes beyond being an automation tool to act as a driver of intelligent business decision-making. From financial services and retail to manufacturing and healthcare, AI use cases within Indian GCCs are growing exponentially. Predictive algorithms are used to anticipate equipment failures in industrial setups, reducing downtime. In BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) sectors, AI models trained on cloud platforms are detecting anomalous transactions, curbing fraud in real time. In retail and telecom, AI-powered bots and recommendation engines are enhancing customer support and personalization. All of this is made viable and scalable through cloud-native architectures, which allow models to learn, iterate, and deploy across regions effortlessly.
The ICT Enablers
Indian ICT players play a critical role in this digital shift. Their solutions enable businesses to manage massive datasets, ensure data residency compliance, and maintain high availability. This is essential for the effective training and deployment of AI models that demand real-time data processing, interoperability, and continuous learning cycles.
Furthermore, cloud’s pay-as-you-go model aligns perfectly with the cost dynamics of global delivery centres, allowing businesses to scale experimentation without upfront capital expenses. For Fortune 500 companies, this is a game changer reducing time-to-market while optimizing costs.
India’s Cloud and Policy Advantage
India is uniquely positioned to lead in cloud adoption. Enterprises are leveraging hybrid cloud models to host sensitive workloads locally while using public clouds for innovation and scalability. This cloud maturity is further strengthened by India’s policy environment. The IndiaAI Mission, Digital India program, and data reforms such as the DPDP (Digital Personal Data Protection) Act are creating a secure, inclusive, and innovation-friendly environment. The adoption of cloud in government projects, favourable FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) policies, and a growing push for digital public infrastructure are further catalyzing enterprise interest in India’s digital backbone.
India at the Helm of Global Digital Transformation
As the world accelerates toward a digital-first future, India’s GCC ecosystem is leading the charge with AI and cloud at its core. As we move deeper into this age, we realise that this integration is not just enhancing how businesses operate rather redefining where innovation happens. With its deep talent pool, mature digital infrastructure, and future-forward policy ecosystem, India has emerged as the world’s digital transformation engine. And AI and cloud are the twin forces powering the country’s ascent in the global technology value chain.
The article has been written by Pinkesh Kotecha, Chairman and Managing Director, Ishan Technologies
