India’s Global Capability Centers are increasingly distinguished not just by scale, but by the cultures they build. Deloitte’s India GCC Culture Sensing Report 2025, based on AI-driven analysis of 130,000 employee reviews, reveals a notable contrast: while empowerment and inclusion score impressively high, performance and agility lag. This mix of strengths and gaps offers a nuanced picture—workplaces that are safe for experimentation and collaboration, yet still constrained by bureaucracy, fragmented accountability, and unclear career pathways.
To unpack the findings of the India GCC Culture Sensing Report 2025, we invited Saurabh Dwivedi, Partner, Deloitte India. With more than two decades of experience in organization and HR transformation across industries and geographies, Saurabh shares his perspective on how culture is a critical factor in the growth of GCCs in India.
1. Culture as a strategic lever
India’s GCCs scored strongly on empowerment and inclusion. How is culture helping them move beyond cost arbitrage to become innovation hubs?
Saurabh: Culture is fast becoming a differentiator for India’s GCCs as they move from cost efficiency to capability-led value. The report shows that over 95% of GCCs score above 80 on empowerment and inclusion, reflecting workplaces where employees feel safe to experiment, challenge norms, take ownership, and collaborate across diverse perspectives.
When employees are empowered and included, they bring more than execution skills—they contribute fresh perspectives, ingenuity, and resilience. This helps GCCs attract global talent, embed R&D, and build digital solutions that drive enterprise-wide transformation. However, leaders must guard against bureaucracy and favoritism, as Performance and Results scored only 76, highlighting barriers to engagement and productivity.
The winning playbook lies in streamlining decision-making and fostering inclusion, so that investments in innovation enablers translate into measurable business outcomes.
2. Cracks in the foundation
Performance and agility scored lower than other drivers. What challenges must GCCs overcome to stay resilient?
Saurabh: GCCs have built strong momentum on empowerment and inclusion, scoring above 89, laying the groundwork for innovation and collaboration. Yet, performance and agility lag at around 75, signaling that GCCs, despite strong people-centric drivers, are still grappling with the structural and operational foundations needed to scale innovation.
Key challenges emerge on two fronts. First, decision-making speed—bureaucracy and fragmented accountability, with agility and innovation scoring 74, which can slow responses to market shifts and undermine competitiveness. Second, performance clarity and meritocracy—concerns around favoritism and unclear promotion paths erode trust and motivation.
To stay resilient, GCCs must embed agility into their culture through simplified governance, transparent performance systems, and outcome-based rewards. Addressing these cracks requires courage, reshaping legacy structures so that empowerment drives execution and resilience.
3. Cross-industry learnings
What contrasts across sectors stood out, and how can GCCs borrow best practices?
Saurabh: Just like the GCC Culture Report, we have also analyzed leading Indian organizations through the India Culture Sensing Report. The contrasts are striking: Indian companies excel in people-centric practices, strong learning pathways, and ethical foundations. While GCCs thrive on continuous learning, women’s empowerment, and robust HR support, collectively enabling innovation and well-being. These differences highlight how organizational context shapes cultural strengths and the potential for cross-industry learning.
Sectoral contrasts within GCCs are also notable. Tech and Life Sciences centers emphasize innovation, experimentation, learning orientation, and employee well-being, while Financial Services and Consumer sectors excel in structured processes, inclusion, and clear career progression, supporting stability and long-term engagement.
By combining these strengths, GCCs can bridge gaps. Financial Services and Consumer Centers can adopt agile ways of working and innovation practices from Tech and Life Sciences, while Tech and Life Sciences centers can embed structured talent management and career pathways to strengthen retention, positioning GCCs as high-performing, sustainable workplaces and true innovation hubs.
4. The next frontier
As GCCs expand into tier-II and tier-III cities, what cultural priorities matter most?
Saurabh: GCCs’ strengths in empowerment, inclusion, and well-being provide a solid foundation for expansion. As operations move into tier-II and tier-III cities, leaders must focus on priorities that sustain engagement, performance, and long-term stability.
First, reinforce inclusion and local engagement. Tailoring onboarding, mentoring, and wellness programs to regional contexts ensures employees feel connected to the organization. Second, strengthen performance clarity and career progression. Structured growth pathways, transparent metrics, and recognition frameworks help retain talent. Third, cultivate agility and collaboration at scale. Decentralized decision-making, cross-location knowledge sharing, and continuous learning initiatives empower teams to adapt quickly to business and market shifts.
By emphasizing inclusion, well-being, structured growth, and agility, GCCs can scale sustainably while fostering a people-first culture.
5. Data, AI, and culture sensing
How will data and AI reshape the way leaders measure and act on culture?
Saurabh: AI-driven sentiment analysis gives leaders near-real-time insights into employee experiences across empowerment, inclusion, well-being, and performance. By analyzing the reviews, AI identifies patterns and gaps that traditional surveys often miss, offering a more nuanced understanding of culture at scale and with unprecedented speed.
This enables leaders to move from periodic surveys to continuous listening, spotting issues early, and making evidence-based interventions. Insights can guide engagement programs, identify teams needing mentorship, or flag systemic barriers affecting inclusion and productivity. Benchmarking against competitors fosters continuous learning and responsiveness to industry-wide shifts.
To maximize impact, approaches must be ethical and responsible, preserving employee trust. Embedding AI across the employee lifecycle links culture to business outcomes and creates feedback loops, transforming culture into a lever for innovation, resilience, and talent retention.
