India GCCs are reshaping how multinational firms manage work, talent and office space, according to a report released by Awfis in partnership with Zinnov. The study, titled “The Great Workplace Reset,” maps changes across five key dimensions of the ecosystem.
Growth of India’s Global Capability Centres
The country now hosts 2,117 global capability centres operating across 3,728 sites. Collectively they generate an estimated USD 98.4 billion in revenue for fiscal 2026 and employ more than 2.36 million professionals.
Since fiscal 2021 the number of centres has risen by roughly 32 %, and a record 506 firms from the Global 2000 list run operations here. The expansion is not limited to traditional multinationals; private‑equity‑backed firms, mid‑market companies and digital‑native businesses are also setting up facilities, using the model for both scale and innovation.
Shift Toward Higher‑Value Work
Work portfolios have moved up the value chain. Routine, procedural tasks have fallen, while complex problem‑solving now represents 38.1 % of activity. Cutting‑edge research and development work has doubled in the same period.
Companies building artificial intelligence products conduct twice as much frontier R&D in India compared with firms that merely adopt third‑party AI. The talent pool for AI and machine learning within these centres is projected to grow from 122,000 in 2023 to about 250,000 by 2026, making India the world’s second‑largest AI talent market after the United States (AI talent).
The rise in sophisticated work is forcing firms to rethink hiring. Engineers now need a blend of domain expertise, AI framework knowledge and business context, a shift that blurs the line between specialist and full‑stack roles.
Workspace Decisions Turn Strategic
As mandates become more strategic, workspace is treated as an operating decision rather than a pure real‑estate transaction. Talent, control, speed, flexibility and brand are cited as the five drivers behind location and format choices.
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In the first quarter of 2026 the office‑leasing market recorded a peak volume of 20.7 million sq ft. Facilities linked to the centres accounted for 44 % of that demand, or roughly 9.1 million sq ft, the highest quarterly uptake on record.
A flat read of the numbers shows that 64 % of this demand came from ecommerce, banking, financial services and technology firms, while a comparable share was generated by U.S.-headquartered companies. Bengaluru and Hyderabad together absorbed 67 % of the space.
Flex‑space is gaining ground. The report estimates that centres now represent 40‑45 % of enterprise flexible‑seat adoption, and 67 % plan to grow flex footprints to over ten percent of their total real‑estate portfolio. Case studies highlight how some operations scaled from incubation to more than 3,000 seats within months using managed and flexible formats supplied by Awfis.
Integration of Strategy, Talent and Real Estate
The data suggest a tighter link between business strategy, workforce planning and workplace design. Faster, more adaptable expansion is essential as centres take on complex, time‑sensitive projects.
“This report validates the trajectory we have built our business around. India’s GCCs are no longer just execution centres, they now own products, platforms, and AI‑led mandates, and that kind of strategic mandate cannot be supported by conventional real‑estate timelines,” said Amit Ramani, Chairman and Managing Director of Awfis. “It demands workspace that moves as fast as the business does, which is exactly why flexible and managed office formats have become the category’s fastest growing choice among GCCs.”
“The centre of gravity of AI work has shifted from invention to industrialisation, and that shift has rewritten the GCC workforce. The specialist we tracked in job descriptions three years ago is now a full‑stack engineer, combining domain depth, AI frameworks, and business context to own outcomes,” noted Nitika Goel, CMO and Managing Partner at Zinnov. “Once the work and the workforce have changed this much, the workspace decision moves up with them.”
Awfis continues its partnership with Zinnov, providing the venue for the 19th edition of Zinnov Confluence 2026. The event brings together centre leaders, enterprise decision‑makers and industry experts to discuss the evolving role of global capability centres in India.
