The transformative nature of globalisation was well documented by the phrase “the world is flat” and is arguably one of the most defining phenomena over the past century. Nearly three decades after outsourcing came into vogue, the path to value generation has been nothing short of spectacular either.

At the heart of this global disruption is India’s Outsourcing industry. What started as offshoring captive centres pivoting around information in the 2000s (also called Global Information Centers GICs), where value creation was generated ‘in-house’ through research, data entry, and customer service and finance functions, has evolved into Global Capability Centres (GCCs), a fully integrated Center of Excellence (CoE) that is built on the pillars of trust, transparency, and long-term positioning.

 

India at the Centre of Global Capability Pivot

India’s strength as a GCC destination is built on a combination of factors, including the availability of large-scale, digitally proficient talent, a positively evolving regulatory and policy landscape, competitive price points and well-developed digital infrastructure. Moving beyond execution-focused roles, modern GCCs now operate as integrated, high-impact units, playing a central role in enterprise transformation initiatives, developing digital capabilities, and contributing directly to innovation and business value creation. The fundamental question is no longer why India but rather how to maximise value through their India footprint.

Global companies are operating under sustained pressure: persistent talent shortages, rising cost bases, faster technology cycles, and increasing dependence on digital platforms. In addition, a volatile geo-political landscape, supply chain disruptions, evolving compliance frameworks, and rapidly transformative advancements in AI & technology have underscored a need for risk-diversified operational models. In this background, a potential strategy to address these structural challenges should not be limited to setting up delivery models focused on maximising efficiencies at scale but a long term roadmap to generating sustainable value.

As a result, India is no longer viewed purely from a low-cost lens but a strategic growth lever to help realise long-term value propositions directly impacting the bottom-line. India now hosts the world’s largest concentration of Global Capability Centres (GCCs), employing close to two million professionals enabling core enterprise functions across technology, engineering, finance, healthcare, and operations.

For Nordic companies that often operate from home markets with relatively high labour costs and scarce talent, the GCC model offers a pragmatic solution to extend global value-driven footprint without compromising on strategic control.

 

The Evolution of Offshoring in India

Seen over time, the role of offshore centres has not evolved in a straight line but rather in step with how global organisations organise work and accountability. What began as narrowly defined delivery setups gradually expanded into broader capability platforms, with each phase reflecting a different view on scope, ownership, and value creation.

Across this progression, offshore centres moved from efficiency-led execution to end-to-end enablement, and eventually into roles anchored in global context, portfolio ownership, and innovation. Early models prioritised cost and scale, followed by increasing emphasis on process ownership and capability enhancement. As operating models matured, India-based centres began supporting global roles, portfolio management, and enterprise-wide initiatives. In their most advanced form today, Global Capability Centres operate within full business context contributing directly to R&D, digital transformation, and strategic decision-making.

The infographic below summarises this evolution across positioning, scope, and primary value drivers, illustrating how offshore models have transitioned from cost-focused outposts to integrated capability and innovation hubs.

 

Scale and Momentum of India’s GCC Ecosystem

India’s GCC ecosystem has reached a level of scale that few other locations can replicate. As of 2024:

  • India hosts 1,700 – 3,000 GCCs, depending on definition, and close to 50% of global GCC employment
  • Around 400 of the Forbes Global 2000 companies currently operate GCCs in India. This implies that nearly 80% still do not, leaving significant headroom for further growth
  • Total employment in Indian GCCs stands at 2.0 million professionals

Importantly, growth is no longer driven only by new entrants. Mature GCCs are expanding their scope faster than overall enterprise headcount, reflecting growing reliance on India for core technology and business roles.

 

Sector View

The GCC footprint in India is now spread across multiple industries, with clear patterns of value concentration.

  • Manufacturing and Engineering GCCs increasingly support product design, testing, digital twins, and lifecycle management, particularly in automotive and industrial sectors
  • Banking, Financial Services, and Fintech centres focus on analytics, risk, regulatory technology, and AI-driven automation
  • Healthcare and Life Sciences GCCs play a growing role in R&D, clinical analytics, and compliance
  • High-tech and Software GCCs increasingly own platforms, data products, and AI capabilities

Engineering R&D now accounts for more than half of GCC value creation in India and continues to grow faster than traditional shared services.

 

Product-Centric vs Service-Centric GCCs

As GCCs take on a more central role in global operating models, companies are increasingly differentiating how they use them based on business context. A key distinction is between service-centric and product-centric GCCs, although coexisting, but operating very differently in practice.

Service-centric GCCs are designed around efficiency, standardization, and scale. They work best where outputs are stable and governed through clearly defined processes, with success measured through quality, cost effectiveness, and delivery consistency.

Product-centric GCCs sit closer to the core of the business. They are embedded in engineering, platforms, data, and innovation, often supporting full product or capability lifecycles. This model requires clearer decision rights and closer integration with headquarters but delivers higher long-term value through stronger ownership and faster innovation cycles.

In practice, product centric GCCs are far more sensitive to how accountability is structured. Where ownership is clear, they function as integral parts of the global operating model rather than offshore extensions.

 

Foundational Considerations for a GCC

Across both service-centric and product-centric GCCs, the differentiator is not the operating model itself, but how clearly organisations get the foundational choices around mandate, governance, talent, and decision rights.

High-performing capability centres typically share five foundational elements.

  • Outcome-based mandates rather than task-based delivery
  • Proactive human-centric policies and interventions built on empowerment and Trust
  • Embedded global roles and decision authority
  • Strong alignment between headquarters and GCC leadership
  • Tech-enabled Innovation roadmaps powered by AI and Automation

Top-performing GCCs report productivity improvements of up to 30%, alongside improved resilience and faster time-to-market, driven by scaled AI adoption and clearer outcome ownership.

 

What This Means for Nordic Companies and the Way Forward

One can argue that the importance of people-centric dimension to Nordic businesses is more relevant to nurturing GCCs outside Scandinavia. Companies that treat GCCs as long-term capability investments tend to extract significantly more value than those that view them as flexible capacity pools.

The Business Satisfaction Survey of +200 Swedish companies operating in India conducted by Team Sweden, reveals that nearly 60% plan to increase investments over the next 12 months, with nearly 82% running a profitable business or break-even in the preceding year.

In this background, some of the relevant questions to be addressed while developing a GCC strategy:

  • How do we achieve culture fit and embed ways of working that are critical to success?
  • What capabilities or business functions should be anchored offshore?
  • What is our talent acquisition and retention strategy?
  • How should governance and accountability be structured?
  • How can the value creation be leveraged and monetised?

For Swedish companies, a holistic approach that is built on Nordic values such as integrity, sustainability, trust, and collaboration are essentially the bedrock of a successful offshore strategy.

In a recent landmark development, India and EU recently concluded negotiations for a balanced, comprehensive and mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement (FTA), making the EU the largest trading partner of India. The benefits of an FTA is expected to spill over into the IT sector by enhancing digital trade, enabling smoother data flows, and facilitate closer collaboration between EU and India.

 

How Opticos Supports This Journey

Capability Centers go much beyond global factors at scale but a strategic enabler for companies to co-create solutions that deliver competitive advantages. For organisations willing to embed GCCs into their core operating architecture, India offers a proven track record with a combination of factors such a scale, skills, continuity and a strong value-driven ecosystem that few other locations can match.

Opticos works with clients across the GCC lifecycle from defining the role of India in the global operating model and establishing a business case to designing governance structures, scaling, and optimising mature capability centres.

While the larger goal would be to set up and scale up capability centers, a holistic Go to Market strategy can help effectively realise the business goals. Some of the key areas of the plan would address areas such as:

  • Vision and Leadership Buy-in
  • Culture Fit and Ways of Working
  • Alignment with Core Values
  • Capability ownership versus service delivery
  • Human Capital, skills acquisition and retention
  • Legal & Regulatory compliance
  • Risk Modelling and Scenario Planning
  • Governance and Accountability Mechanisms

With a Nordic presence, global reach and a proven track record, Opticos is uniquely positioned to supporting our clients irrespective of where you are in your global transformation journey.

 

Sources:

Secondary research and industry sources

  • NASSCOM–Zinnov: India GCC Landscape & GCC 4.0 reports (scale, waves, ER&D share)
  • PwC India: Catalysing Value Creation in Indian Global Capability Centres (governance, value CAGR, misalignment)
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG): Rewriting the Global Capability Center Playbook (maturity, AI, operating models)
  • ISG / Avasant: GCC services radar and maturity benchmarks
  • Economic Survey of India (FY24–25): GCC employment and macro contribution

Regional and Nordic context

  • Team Sweden – Business Satisfaction Survey (Swedish companies operating in India)
  • EU–India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) public announcements and policy briefs