Over the past decade or so, enterprises, irrespective of their size, have learned that resilience, agility, and innovation are three core traits they must cultivate to remain competitive. To embed these traits into their business strategies, many enterprises have turned to a scalable operational model called Global Capability Centre (GCC). Globally, GCCs have grown by around 10%, according to a recent Avasantreport titled ‘Global Competency Center (GCC) Services 2025 Market Insights.’ The GCC market size, valued at USD 145.92 billion in 2024, is projected to reach USD 402.14 billion by 2032. Every region has some quantifiable benefits to offer, depending on the enterprise’s business goals, industry sector, and other such factors. Strategic locations such as India and Eastern Europe, replete with skilled talent and mature ecosystems, help save 30 to 50% on costs and also realise 35% more process efficiency through digital transformation. These benefits are mostly driven by advanced technologies such as AI, data science, and cloud computing, with 25% of the global GCC processes involving these.
Many enterprises have turned their GCCs into Centres of Excellence (CoEs), demonstrating the model’s transformative potential. However, markets such as North America, Australia, and New Zealand (ANZ), and Europe demand more strategic value from such engagements. These markets are evolving rapidly in response to various digital disruptions that are key to cultivating three key traits (resilience, agility, and innovation) in their DNA. As such, the GCCs must recalibrate to move beyond the cost arbitrage models to sophisticated innovation hubs that become catalysts of growth. Let’s explore how the GCCs of enterprises in these geographies can achieve that.
- reimagine GCCs as drivers of business transformation
- embed Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) services into the DNA
- find or evolve a GCC model
- forge distributed talent ecosystems
From its inception to the present, the GCC models have undergone significant evolution to cater to the dynamic market needs of various industry sectors. Traditionally, the GCCs focused primarily on support services, such as IT, HR, and finance, resembling back-office hubs. These were mostly called the Global Business Services (GBS) models. However, driven by stakeholder and customer expectations, the GBSes metamorphosed into GCCs. They are now becoming innovation engines that reimagine and optimise processes, reshape customer journeys, breathe life into futuristic products, and facilitate new business models. Quality and cost optimisation are the baseline expectations from these reimagined GCCs that focus on business transformation services for the enterprises. The GCC leaders are owning core processes, becoming multi-functional and driving enterprise-wide transformation for strategic asset monetisation, says the Avasant report.
Digital maturity is a key differentiator for GCCs and their success, and its foundation lies in BPR services. It is the radical rethinking of core business processes to redesign them and achieve high levels of performance and efficiency. Apart from eliminating redundancies, BPR optimises processes end-to-end with quantifiable benefits in various aspects such as cost, quality, speed, and efficiency. It dismantles outdated workflows to streamline them into adaptable and scalable, futuristic workflows. BPR has to be an ongoing project in most GCCs, with continuous improvements to keep pace with changing market dynamics and rapid technological advancements. It helps GCCs embed a few key success factors, such as risk and compliance, governance, sustainability goals, etc., into its operational fabric. BPR lends GCCs resilience, scaling, and agility to thrive and succeed.
The one-size-fits-all approach never suited the GCC landscape, which now abounds with multiple models that evolved in response to the market needs. Assisted model, Build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, Joint Venture (JV) model, hybrid models, GCC-as-a-Service model, and plug-and-play infrastructure model, are a few available options. Each model offers distinct advantages depending on the geography, maturity, and enterprise objectives. Recent industry reports indicate a growing preference for modular hybrid models that offer enhanced flexibility and agility. An ANSR report titled ‘6 trends redefining GCCs in 2025’ mentions best-sourcing as a pivotal strategy. It helps GCCs identify a combination of the most optimal in-house and outsourced capabilities to derive their best GCC operational model. Finding or evolving the most optimal GCC model helps enterprises hedge against disruptions even as they continuously focus on innovating. Enterprises setting up GCCs can also partner with providers to work cohesively towards releasing strategic goals.
Talent is the new currency. GCC leaders must leverage local expertise and network to forge distributed talent ecosystems that power global initiatives. Creating fusion talent models can seamlessly fill the skill gaps and foster reliable talent pools. GCCs must become hubs of borderless, hybrid, and diverse workforces that boost resilience and accelerate enterprise-wide innovation. Starting from internships and apprenticeships to integrating the best of the gig economy, these talent ecosystems must forge a robust pipeline of future-ready skills that boost capability building.
the outlook
The GCC market is poised at an inflection point. For enterprises in North America, Europe, and ANZ looking to scale their business through GCCs, there is no better time than now to act. By reimagining the role of GCCs to suit their business objectives, embracing BPR, forging distributed talent ecosystems, and finding or evolving their own GCC model, enterprises can chart a bold path of innovation and competitiveness to unlock hitherto unseen strategic value.
how can Infosys BPM help?
Infosys BPM’sscalable GCC services span AI-first, proven, end-to-end and ready-to-deploy frameworks that help our customers design, build, and transform their GCCs through four strategic support pillars. Our flexible engagement models offer the best of choices to Fortune 500 companies and small and medium enterprises alike, as they craft their GCC journey.
