India’s GCC landscape is undergoing a dramatic shift. Once seen primarily as offshore delivery hubs, Global Capability Centers are now stepping into strategic roles—driving innovation, influencing product strategy, and leading digital transformation. As enterprises push for speed, scale, and sustained value, the expectations from India’s GCCs are rising fast. In response to this evolution, digital business transformation company Publicis Sapient recently launched a new focus area in India to help global companies unlock the full potential of their GCCs.
In this interview, Monish Singhal, Group Vice President at Publicis Sapient, talks about what’s changing, why legacy metrics no longer apply, and how the company’s Establish–Scale–Acquire model is designed to help GCCs move from support functions to engines of innovation and growth.
How do you see the role of Global Capability Centers (GCCs) evolving over the next 3–5 years, especially in digital business transformation?
Monish: Over the next three to five years, I envision GCCs in India making a decisive shift beyond their traditional role as delivery centers. They are becoming core drivers of digital business transformation. Increasingly, GCCs are not just executing work—they are influencing product strategy, shaping customer experiences, and leading innovation.
We see this shift firsthand. Global enterprises are looking to their India-based teams to create new digital capabilities, not simply scale existing ones. The focus is moving from operational efficiency to value creation and ownership of outcomes.
India’s GCCs have deep engineering expertise and mature processes. Now, they also have leadership talent ready to drive transformation agendas from end to end. This evolution is making GCCs an integrated part of the enterprise strategy—a true extension of the global core, equipped with the SPEED mindset of Strategy, Product, Engineering, Experience, and Data.
What are the key challenges and opportunities global enterprises face today when trying to unlock innovation from their India-based GCCs?
Monish: The biggest challenge global enterprises face in unlocking innovation from India-based GCCs is moving beyond traditional ways of working. While the talent and intent are already in place, too many GCCs are still measured by legacy metrics like headcount or cost savings. True innovation demands that we shift focus to outcomes and value delivered.
From my experience, the real barrier is not talent but mindset and sponsorship. When global leaders treat their India teams as strategic partners—setting clear expectations for value creation and empowering them to deliver—it changes the dynamic completely. Innovation cannot flourish if teams are seen only as execution arms.
There is also a significant opportunity here. India has a deep pool of entrepreneurial talent shaped by its vibrant startup ecosystem. GCCs can tap into this capability to move from reactive support functions to proactive innovation hubs that shape strategy, design solutions, and drive transformation agendas.
How can enterprises ensure their GCCs are not siloed but deeply integrated into global strategy and product roadmaps?
Monish: Enterprises can ensure their GCCs are deeply integrated into global strategy and product roadmaps by moving beyond treating them as satellite offices and building them as true extensions of the core business. Integration is not just about structure—it requires shared ownership, aligned goals, and a unified culture.
The most effective GCCs are those where India-based leaders have a seat at the global strategy table and are involved in shaping roadmaps, not just executing them. Integration succeeds when it becomes co-creation, where teams collaborate as equals, share accountability for outcomes, and work toward a common vision. That is the model that drives real impact and sustainable value.
With the launch of your new GCC-focused offering in India, what unique value does Publicis Sapient aim to bring to enterprises looking to establish or transform their GCCs?
Monish: With our new GCC-focused offering in India, Publicis Sapient aims to help enterprises move beyond traditional delivery center models and build GCCs that are true engines of transformation.
We understand that transforming a GCC is complex—it involves organizational, technological, and cultural change. Having repeatedly reinvented ourselves over the decades, we know what it takes to drive change from within. We bring that experience to help clients define their ambition, establish effective operating models, and build integrated teams.
Our goal is to help clients create GCCs that set the standard for their entire organization. Whether it’s launching a new AI or data center in India, we focus on making it a benchmark for global excellence, not just an extension of existing capacity.
Can you elaborate on how the “Establish–Scale–Acquire” model works in practice and how it differs from traditional GCC transformation approaches?
Monish: The Establish–Scale–Acquire model is our approach to building GCCs that are not only operationally effective but also strategic, innovative, and adaptable over time. Unlike the traditional Build–Operate–Transfer (BOT) model, which focuses on setting up operations and then handing them over, this model emphasizes continuous alignment with business goals and long-term value creation.
- Establish is about setting up GCCs with a clear strategic intent from day one. We help clients define the purpose of the center—what role it will play in the business, what outcomes it will drive—and embed that vision into its culture, ways of working, and talent model.
- Scale focuses on evolving these centers into mature, innovation-driven hubs. This means building the right capabilities, establishing cross-functional teams, driving performance, and creating a strong culture that prioritizes outcomes over tasks. The goal is to deliver sustained, increasing value over time.
- Acquire is about enabling long-term ownership and strategic reinvention. We help organizations transform under-utilized or legacy centers into value-generating assets, whether through integration, reinvention, or even transition from BOT models. The focus is on ensuring GCCs are fully owned, strategically aligned, and able to adapt to changing needs.
