India's Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are no longer just back-office support units. They are rapidly evolving into powerful engines of global innovation and leadership, owning critical product strategies and driving technological transformation for their parent enterprises. This significant shift was highlighted in a recent discussion featuring global fintech giant Fiserv and IT industry body Nasscom.
From Support to Strategic Leadership: The GCC Transformation
The conversation, which included Sachin Kulkarni, President of Global Services at Fiserv, and Sangeeta Gupta, Chief Strategy Officer at Nasscom, revealed a major transition. GCCs are moving towards owning global roles, fueled by three key factors: demonstrated capability, growing confidence from headquarters, and stronger collaborative ecosystems within India.
Sachin Kulkarni detailed Fiserv's own journey. The company, with a massive GCC in India that hosts half of its global technology and operations employee base, has seen a dramatic rise in global responsibilities. "When we started in 2020, we had something like five or six global roles. But today, we have about 100 roles in product management where we co-own the product strategy," he stated. These teams now collaborate on designing roadmaps and influence go-to-market approaches and pricing.
This capability stems from India's unique combination of scale and multidisciplinary strength across engineering, data, infrastructure, and operations. This foundation allows GCCs to lead initiatives in automation, artificial intelligence, and managing end-to-end customer journeys.
Headquarters' Confidence and Ecosystem Collaboration Soar
A pivotal change is the heightened trust from global corporate boards. Kulkarni pointed out that many GCCs have become "microcosms" of their entire enterprises, hosting multiple business units and serving numerous geographies. In some cases, global banks have placed 60-70% of their worldwide tech and operations workforce in their Indian centres.
This trust translates into complex, mission-critical work. Indian centres are now building sophisticated trading platforms, risk models, and other core systems. Sangeeta Gupta from Nasscom emphasized this shift in recognition. "When they visit India, they're visiting their GCCs. Earlier, you would see them only going to their India-market businesses," she noted, calling it a "big shift in global recognition."
Collaboration is the third pillar. GCCs are increasingly partnering with local startups and universities, positioning themselves as anchor tenants in India's broader innovation ecosystem. Gupta added that a third of all GCCs in India are now driving end-to-end transformations for their parent companies, an ambition that has become widespread.
The Startup Mindset and Phenomenal Returns
Kulkarni attributed a key part of Fiserv's GCC success to its ability to operate like a startup within the larger enterprise, adopting an AI-first and product-centric approach. They run internal venture-style programs, including an innovation fund that finances a product incubator and an automation lab.
In this lab, top employees can take an idea from concept to a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in a rapid 13-week cycle. One successful AI-based product developed through this program enables banks to gain near real-time insights on small and medium businesses in the US market.
The financial returns have been staggering. Kulkarni revealed that the investment is "in the order of 3-digit thousand dollars and the RoI is in 3-digit million dollars." The primary challenge, he mentioned, is securing time from subject matter experts for brainstorming, as they are also crucial for maintaining secure, reliable, and defect-free core operations.
The message is clear: India's GCCs have moved far beyond cost arbitrage. They are now central to global innovation strategy, commanding greater trust, responsibility, and delivering exceptional value, thereby solidifying India's position as a global technology and leadership hub.
