While most Indian Global Capability Centers (GCCs) began as back-office extensions, the narrative is widely changing to them being innovative powerhouses at par with their multinational headquarters.In order to maintain this momentum, especially with the looming presence of artificial intelligence, making the workforce equipped with the right skillset has become the need of the hour.

Several GCCs are now working closely with universities, research institutions, and training partners to ensure India’s vast talent pool to be industry-ready, all while they co-develop global products.

India’s talent advantage

India’s GCC talent engine is on the rise, with employee headcount projected to grow rapidly over the next five years. A survey conducted at ET SURGE 2025, the country’s largest residential GCC summit, revealed that at least one in three GCC leaders expect a 25% rise in workforce by 2030.

Rajkumar Jain, Vice President of Engineering and Site Leader – India at QNX, BlackBerry’s IoT business, is working closely with institutions to make sure the talent pipeline remains strong.

“It’s about bridging the gap between academia and industry to prepare students to solve real-world problems from day one. By working directly with faculties and providing hands-on training, we are fostering an ecosystem of excellence,” Jain tells ETGCCWorld.

Over the span of seven months, the QNX Everywhere in Education has signed MoUs with 51 top institutions, including Manipal Academy of Higher Education, PES University, Vellore Institute of Technology, and has established four regional clusters across Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Coimbatore.

It has also rolled out 14 dedicated learning labs to support students with hands-on experience with real-world development tools. Over 2,600 students have already enrolled in the first cohort.

“Through our QNX Everywhere initiative, we are not just providing free access to our software…we are actively building a robust talent pipeline by embedding our foundational technology into engineering curricula at premier academic institutions across the country,” he added.

Beyond engineering, GCCs are also tackling the larger challenges in the workforce sector driven by AI.

“The new demand is for domain experts: digital engineers, data scientists, GenAI designers, machine-learning specialists, and product engineers,” said Ambrish Kanungo, HR Head at IT consulting firm Beyond Key, which helps companies forge learning partnerships with universities, investing in upskilling programs, and experimenting with innovation labs.

Similarly, by collaborating with academia, multinational advertising firm WPP is actively building a strong pipeline of industry-ready talent in India.

“If I think about the talent base that we have, it’s pretty unique. If you look at the combination of creative, technology, data, and AI talent–India is one of our biggest hubs,” said Prashant Mehta, Global Managing Director at WPP GDC.

Most recently, the company rolled out WPP Open, an internal SaaS-based offering to help employees to access products and common shared services, to which local teams from India have largely shaped.

“Our teams in India are also helping build that platform. That way, we are driving more impact for our clients. The way we’re looking at it is by using the power of technology, AI, building more connected offerings, and really helping deliver more value,” he explained.

The company employs over 11,000 employees across its Chennai, Mumbai, and Gurugram centers.

enGen, with 3,600-plus healthcare specialists across Chennai and Hyderabad, in India is also working closely with academic institutions to upskill its employees.

“Through training programs and internships, we equip students with practical skills and exposure to advanced healthcare technologies. This ensures that when they join our teams, they are prepared to contribute meaningfully from day one. By investing in academia, enGen is building a workforce that can drive innovation and enhance patient outcomes,” said Shrinivas Ayyagari, Chief Human Resource Officer, enGen India.

Opportune time for collaboration

This surge in academic collaboration also comes at a crucial time for Indian GCCs, a market expected to expand from $65 billion today to over $100 billion in the next five years. According to several leaders that ETGCCWorld spoke to earlier flagged the dearth of upskilled talent among the biggest challenges for the sector.

While India has a vast base of engineers, employability in advanced data and business intelligence roles remains a concern, said Ashfak Shaikh, India Site Leader at Domo.

The findings echoed a recent KPMG report which noted that 72 per cent of GCC leaders identify talent development as their top priority.

With different actors across the ecosystem pushing for such collaborations, the question isn’t whether India has the talent but rather: can India upskill fast enough?