India's genius narrative flip

If you want a masterclass in the power of narrative, look to India. The country's rebrand of 'outsourcing' to 'capability centres' is winning jobs and business at an astounding rate.

Multinationals like IBM, UBS, Lloyds Banking Group and Cargill are shifting thousands of roles to Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India - disrupting talent and tech ecosystems worldwide.

GCCs are offshore units set up by multinational companies to deliver technology, analytics and innovation not just support services. Unlike traditional outsourcing - often delivered by system integrators - GCCs are typically owned and operated directly by the client company, giving firms tighter control over talent, IP and delivery.

In other words, multinationals are hiring directly in India - bypassing intermediaries - at a scale and speed the market has never seen before.

Lalit Ahuja, CEO of ANSR, a company that has driven $2bn of investment in supporting 135 GCCs, sees it as the country's future.

"GCCs are synonymous with ‘Make in India’ and will continue to fuel unprecedented, sustainable growth, establishing India as a global innovation hub." ​

India’s GCC market now comprises over 1,950 centres, employing more than 1.9 million professionals. According to a NASSCOM–Zinnov report, that footprint is expected to grow to 2,200 centres by 2030, employing up to 2.8 million people and reaching a market valuation of up to $105 billion.

The momentum is staggering. IBM’s job postings in India jumped from 173 in January 2024 to nearly 3,900 by March 2025 as it cuts roles in the US.

It is India's narrative that has done this. No longer seen as cheap (as it isn't necessarily), the Indian GCC industry has positioned itself as one that solves the innovation challenge. Higher up the value chain and well on the CEO radar.

As you can also imagine, GCCs are also causing havoc with the job and system integrator market where work is being lost to GCCs. With such sudden growth, there are concerns from the C-level. Operational resilience is under pressure. Rapid scaling raises questions about consistency and global alignment. COOs are worried as their heads are on the block if systems fail.

As GCCs move up the value chain, demand is surging for high-skilled roles in AI, data science, cybersecurity and advanced software engineering. Talent competition is fierce. Attrition rates are rising for niche skills like data science and cybersecurity, driving wage inflation. Workforce stability and wages are already a challenge.

Systems integrators are feeling punished. Unless they adapt and lead the journey to better GCCs than the company can deliver, they face hard times. Firms like Infosys and TCS are facing reinvention.

At a time when automation and cost-cutting is rising, this is a double whammy smack for people looking for work on the micro level and governments desperate to jumpstart their economies at the macro.

But that is disruption. The story is the strategy. India saw it first.

The CEO Agenda:

1. In principle, this isn’t just a labour shift. It’s a rethink of where and how innovation happens. In practice, there will be teething issues.
2. Appreciate how the narrative flip changed an entire global technology labour market. What would a powerful narrative do you for you?
3. Moves like this draw political heat. Governments are playing a domestic jobs game while India is using narrative in the the global talent market. India leads with a growth story while others are managing the books. What could you learn from this?
4. GCCs are not unique to India. Given the focus on operational resilience with potential for wars, tariffs, currency fluctuations, concentration risk etc, your geographical strategy might need new criteria for it to balance.