India’s Global Capability Centres (GCCs)—offshore hubs run by multinational companies—are rapidly becoming central to how global businesses deploy artificial intelligence at scale. According to a recent Reuters report, these centres are no longer limited to back-office support but are now handling high-value AI-driven work across industries such as healthcare, pharmaceuticals, retail, marketing, HR, and finance. Companies are using India-based teams to build, deploy, and manage AI systems that directly impact global operations.
In healthcare and pharmaceuticals, AI is being used to improve clinical efficiency and speed up drug development. For example, Apollo Hospitals is working with Microsoft to deploy AI clinical assistants that help doctors spend more time with patients, while pharma companies like Novo Nordisk are using AI to streamline regulatory documentation and safety analysis. These applications reflect a broader shift where India’s GCCs are becoming key engines for life sciences innovation and data-driven medical research.
The same transformation is visible in consumer goods and marketing. Companies such as Kimberly-Clark are using AI to identify influencers for products like diapers and to generate marketing content at scale, dramatically reducing production timelines from weeks to hours. Other firms are using AI-generated imagery and automation tools to reduce reliance on traditional advertising workflows and external agencies, reshaping how global brands manage creative production and campaign execution.
More broadly, India’s GCCs are evolving from cost-saving outsourcing hubs into strategic innovation centers. With more than 2,100 centres and over 2.3 million employees, they are increasingly responsible for core functions like software engineering, product development, analytics, and even AI system design. However, this shift is also changing hiring patterns—companies are focusing less on headcount growth and more on specialized AI skills, as automation boosts productivity but reduces the need for large teams.
