India's Global Capability Center (GCC) ecosystem is undergoing a profound transformation, largely driven by the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence. This shift is leading to significant workforce restructuring, with estimates suggesting that thousands of roles could be eliminated while Indian centers simultaneously take on more complex and strategic responsibilities.
AI Drives Workforce Restructuring in Indian GCCs
Multinational companies are actively integrating AI to boost efficiency and streamline operations within their Indian GCCs, leading to substantial headcount adjustments. While some estimates, like those from EIIRTrend CEO Pareekh Jain, suggest potential job cuts ranging from 25,000 to 30,000, others, such as 3AI counterpart Sameer Dhanrajani, place the figure lower, around 4,000 to 5,000.
Recent notable reductions include approximately 600 roles at PayPal and around 1,500 positions at Visa. ServiceNow and various smaller GCCs have also reported cuts exceeding 100 roles each, indicating a widespread trend across the sector.
Shifting Focus: From Support to Strategic Ownership
Beyond the headline figures of job reductions, a more significant shift is occurring within Indian GCCs. These centers are increasingly moving beyond traditional support functions to embrace greater ownership of critical technology and business functions, including AI development, advanced engineering, product management, and enterprise-level decision-making.
Sukanya Roy, a partner at Zinnov, emphasized this point, stating that while headcount figures capture immediate changes, the more consequential story is the growing trust placed in Indian GCCs to manage a larger share of enterprise decision-making.
Data indicates that while commodity work still constitutes 17.7% of the GCC portfolio, complex work has grown to 38.1%. Furthermore, approximately 55% of the portfolio has some exposure to AI displacement, meaning tasks within these roles are being redesigned rather than entire jobs disappearing outright.
Impact on Sectors and Global Integration
The retail and technology sectors have been particularly affected by these changes. Weak top-line growth in retail, coupled with rapid technology cycles, is rendering some existing skills obsolete. Companies are now actively seeking professionals who can blend deep technology expertise with acute business judgment.
This transformation signifies that workforce reductions do not necessarily imply a retreat from the GCC model. Instead, companies are becoming more selective, focusing on specialized hiring for the skills needed in the evolving landscape. New GCCs continue to emerge, indicating a strategic rather than a wholesale withdrawal.
Indian teams are also becoming more integrated into global operations, meaning they are no longer insulated from broader corporate restructurings. Snehal Kulkarni, a GCC transformation leader, noted that when parent companies reorganize global product or operational divisions, India-based teams face proportional cuts.
For technology and fintech firms, the imperative to improve margins and redirect capital towards AI infrastructure is further accelerating the push for leaner teams, with a heightened emphasis on higher-skilled, strategic roles.