India’s $100 Billion GCC ecosystem at an inflection point

India’s Global Capability Center (GCC) ecosystem has scaled into a nearly $100 billion market according to a joint report by Nasscom & Zinnov, with over 2,100 centers employing 2.36 million professionals, and is rapidly evolving beyond its origins in cost arbitrage to broader enterprise value creation.

At the same time, as agentic AI and autonomous systems reshape enterprise operations, they are rethinking how GCCs can continue to drive innovation, agility, and business outcomes at scale.

This shift is exposing new challenges. Several existing GCCs – built for efficiency – are keen to reinvent themselves into AI-led, value creation hubs. Further, many global enterprises looking to set up GCCs are realizing that it is imperative to ensure the right combination of talent, technology and transformation capabilities to really achieve the end goal of driving innovation. 

What this means is that India is entering a new phase of GCC evolution – led by hybrid initiatives, collaborative carve-outs and large-scale transformation efforts – where enterprises are revamping existing centers to unlock value. However, these initiatives are inherently complex as they require investments in technology (AI, analytics, etc), talent and newer skills, and operations spanning global scale with GCCs as key players.

Why the IBM Consulting - Quintes Global Collaboration Matters

IBM Consulting’s collaboration with Quintes Global is designed to address this complexity by aligning transformation, GCC setup, and ecosystem capabilities into a single, coordinated approach to building and scaling GCCs.

IBM Consulting brings deep expertise in enterprise transformation, AI assets like IBM Enterprise Advantage, AI-led operations, and talent build-out at scale, enabling enterprises to redesign GCCs as high-performing, value-driven hubs. Quintes Global complements this with strong expertise in GCC structuring options and operating models, along with strengths in innovation, a registrable IP portfolio, and enterprise value creation.

This combination brings an IBM-Quintes Accelerator that integrates proven tools, AI capabilities, domain expertise, and GCC structuring options into a unified approach. This gives clients one accountable framework to set up, scale, and transform GCCs with clear ownership and control.

“India’s GCC ecosystem is entering a defining phase, where the opportunity is no longer just to scale, but to reshape these centres as next-gen capability hubs delivering enterprise value and innovation. As global organisations look to unlock this potential, captive carve-outs and transformations are becoming critical levers – reimagining existing GCCs into agile, AI-led hubs aligned to business outcomes,” said Rishi Aurora, Managing Partner, IBM Consulting India & South Asia. “Through our collaboration with Quintes Global, we are bringing together the transformation depth and ecosystem capabilities required to execute this shift, helping enterprises move from intent to impact with greater certainty.”

“Quintes empowers enterprises and GCCs across domains & verticals to re-imagine their value maturity journey with its ‘one-enterprise’ strategy, differentiated frameworks & tools and aggregated solution approach. Quintes IBM Accelerator will allow us to demonstrate the multi-dimensional capabilities and bring ‘transformation-in-a-box’ expertise even more comprehensively and support GCCs to fast-track their capability to value and innovation,” said Rakesh Sinha, Founder & CEO, Quintes Global. “Together, we are enabling clients to execute with greater speed, clarity, and confidence.”

Driving Faster, More Resilient Outcomes for GCCs

The partnership also enables a more structured approach to Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and Build-Operate-Transform-Transfer (BOTT) models, giving enterprises the flexibility to build new GCCs or transform existing ones, and transition them back as fully optimized, future-ready centers.

For clients, the advantage is clear:

·       Potentially faster time-to-value through integrated approach

·       Reduced complexity and risk with a more coordinated model

·       Future-ready GCCs designed for AI-led, outcome-driven operations

As GCCs continue to evolve into strategic engines of growth, partnerships that combine transformation depth with ecosystem execution will be key to unlocking their full potential.