Global Capability Centres Evolving to AI-Driven Innovation Hubs
Global Capability Centres are entering a new phase of maturity, propelled by advancements in AI and a transformation in engineering talent rather than simply cost reduction. During The Global GCC Summit hosted by Inductus Group, Deveena Chopra, Director for Deals and Pursuits at Tech Mahindra, indicated that GCCs are currently at a pivotal moment, evolving into centres of strategic innovation for multinational organisations.
GCCs as AI-Led Innovation Powerhouses
Chopra remarked that the industry has significantly shifted from its traditional role as a back-office extension. GCCs are now positioning themselves as AI-powered innovation hubs that hold substantial strategic importance for their parent companies, whether situated in Europe or globally.
Transformative Changes Impacting GCCs
She further elaborated that the ongoing transformation is both multidimensional and far-reaching. Her team collaborates with GCCs to guide digital transformations, develop perspectives, create proofs of concept, and implement these solutions across extensive business landscapes.
AI Tackling Complex Industry Challenges
To demonstrate how AI addresses some of the industry’s most challenging issues, she shared a case study from a prominent UK bank. The bank’s fundamental systems rely on mainframes that date back fifty to sixty years. With many experts retiring from these systems, the bank encountered a significant capability gap. The manual modernisation of its entire legacy stack would demand immense time and resources.
However, AI and Gen AI-driven solutions have revolutionised this process. Tools like IBM Watson can now analyse mainframe code, extract embedded business requirements, formulate requirement documents, convert legacy code into contemporary programming languages such as Java or Python, generate test cases, and compare results between older and modern systems.
Empowering Talent in GCCs
Chopra pointed out that this transition is not aimed at replacing personnel but rather enhancing their skills and expanding their roles so they can actively engage in modern engineering and AI-based environments.
Redefining Talent Models
She noted that the talent frameworks within GCCs are undergoing a fundamental shift. The traditional model based on full-time employees is being replaced by a capability-focused and engineering-centred approach. Job roles are transforming from manual testers to software development engineers in testing, from generic developers to AI specialists, and from analysts to data science and machine learning experts.
Engineering Talent and AI Tools
GCCs are striving for small teams of engineering talent equipped with AI technologies to deliver results more swiftly and effectively.
Visible Advancements Across Industries
These innovations are being realised in multiple sectors. Today, GCCs are involved in predictive maintenance for automotive clients, developing forecasting and recommendation systems for retailers, implementing fraud detection and risk modelling for financial institutions, and integrating AI-enabled operations throughout business functions.
Chopra affirmed that AI is enhancing human capital, ultimately improving efficiency and productivity.
