India’s Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are moving decisively beyond traditional execution mandates to take ownership of products, platforms, artificial intelligence (AI) and other high-value functions, according to a new report by Awfis Space Solutions Ltd and Zinnov.
Titled ‘The Great Workplace Reset: How India GCCs are Redefining Work, Workforce, and Workspace,’ the report maps the evolution of India’s GCC ecosystem and examines how changes in work and workforce are reshaping hiring, skilling and real estate strategies.
India currently hosts 2,117 GCCs operating 3,728 units, generating an estimated USD 98.4 billion in revenue in FY26 and employing more than 2.36 million professionals. The GCC base has expanded nearly 32% since FY21, with 506 companies from the Global 2000 now operating centres in India.
The report noted that GCC expansion is no longer restricted to large multinational corporations. Private-equity-backed companies, mid-market enterprises and digital-native businesses are increasingly establishing centres in India, indicating that the GCC model has evolved into a platform for growth, innovation and strategic ownership rather than merely a cost or scale play.
Work moves up the value chain
The nature of work undertaken by GCCs has also undergone a significant transformation. Between 2015 and 2026, commodity and procedural work declined, while higher-value capabilities expanded.
Complex problem-solving work now accounts for 38.1% of the GCC work portfolio, while cutting-edge R&D has doubled. Nearly half of India’s GCCs now have an equal or higher share of frontier work compared with their headquarters.
The report also highlights the growing importance of India in AI innovation. Companies that are actively building AI products have twice the share of cutting-edge R&D work in India compared with companies that primarily adopt third-party AI solutions.
This indicates that India is increasingly emerging as a location where core AI innovation is developed, rather than simply being a market where AI technologies are implemented.
AI reshapes GCC talent demand
The shift towards higher-value work is driving a corresponding transformation in talent requirements.
India’s AI/ML talent pool within GCCs has almost doubled from 122,000 professionals in 2023 to a projected 250,000 in 2026, making India the world’s second-largest AI talent market after the United States.
As GCC mandates become more complex, organisations are increasingly looking for professionals who combine technical expertise, domain knowledge and business understanding.
Zinnov CMO & Managing Partner Nitika Goel said, “The centre of gravity of AI work has shifted from invention to industrialisation, and that shift has rewritten the GCC Workforce. The specialist we tracked in job descriptions three years ago is now a full-stack engineer, combining domain depth, AI frameworks, and business context to own outcomes.”
She added that as work and workforce evolve, the workspace decision is also moving higher up the leadership agenda, with talent, control, speed, flexibility and brand becoming key considerations.
Workspace becomes an operating decision
The report argues that workspace is increasingly being treated as an operating decision rather than simply a real estate choice.
Five factors are driving this shift: talent, control, speed, flexibility and brand.
The change is reflected in India’s office market. In Q1 2026, India recorded its highest-ever quarterly office leasing volume of 20.7 million sq ft, with GCCs accounting for 44%, or 9.1 million sq ft. This was the largest amount of office space absorbed by GCCs in a single quarter.
GCCs’ share of office leasing has increased for three consecutive quarters. Ecommerce, BFSI and technology together accounted for 64% of GCC leasing demand, while 73% came from US-headquartered companies. Bengaluru and Hyderabad accounted for 67% of the demand.
Flexible workspaces are also gaining traction among GCCs. The report estimates that GCCs now account for 40-45% of enterprise flex-seat uptake, while 67% of GCCs plan to increase flex space to more than 10% of their real estate portfolio.
Flexible workspace supports faster scale-up
The report includes case studies of GCCs that scaled from incubation to more than 3,000 seats within months through managed and flexible workspace formats delivered by Awfis.
The examples span global commerce, healthcare technology, media monitoring and consumer manufacturing, highlighting how flexible and managed office models can help companies respond faster to changing business requirements.
Awfis Space Solutions Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Amit Ramani said, “India’s GCCs are no longer just execution centers, they now own products, platforms, and AI led mandates, and that kind of strategic mandate cannot be supported by conventional real estate timelines.”
According to Ramani, the evolution of GCCs is creating demand for workspace solutions that can move at the same pace as business expansion.
“Awfis has spent this shift building the scale and specialisation to meet this evolving demand, with an integrated model spanning flexible workspaces, managed offices, and Transform by Awfis (Design & Build) that lets us take a center from early incubation to a fully custom, brand led workspace on time,” he added.