From cost arbitrage to AI-led innovation

Traditionally, GCCs were built around functions like finance, HR, or application development – largely driven by costarbitrage considerations. “Today, the focus is on value creation: how can a GCC enable enterprisewide agentification, accelerate product innovation, or even pioneer proprietary models,” Sailaja Josyula, senior VP and global head of GCC service line at Cognizant, said in a tete-atete with Sangeeta Gupta, senior VP and chief strategy officer at Nasscom.Gupta also noted this shift and said every disruption – from geopolitical volatility to environmental challenges – presents an opportunity. “The question is whether GCCs seize that opportunity to create revenue streams and IP, not just efficiency. Will this lead to AIfirst GCCs?” she asked.AI is clearly a force redefining industry. Josyula cautioned that many organisations are rushing into AI execution without a clear strategic foundation. “Building an

AI-first GCC

requires a thoughtful roadmap, the right talent, and a workplace design that fosters innovation and enables longterm success.”

AI, she said, has to be trained, contextualised and embedded into the workflow. “That requires deliberate design across three dimensions: talent, work, and workplace. So, create the collaboration spaces, sandbox environments, invest in people, and give them the right tools to embrace AI,” she said.On future skills, Josyula said

quality assurance for AI

will be a critical requirement. “Narrow or domain-specific models may prove more successful than large general-purpose models. Building expertise in these areas will define the next wave of GCC talent.”