Imagine a world where innovation never sleeps — where your teams operate seamlessly across time zones, products are developed around the clock, and ideas move faster than markets. For global enterprises, this world already exists — inside their Global Capability Centers (GCCs).
In today’s fast-evolving business landscape, choosing the right GCC location (Global Capability Center location) can make or break an enterprise’s global strategy. What was once primarily a cost-driven decision has now evolved into a strategic one—where ecosystem maturity, innovation potential, and talent depth outweigh pure financial considerations.
Global enterprises no longer view their GCC location as an offshore cost center but as an engine for innovation, efficiency, and long-term competitive advantage.
In this article, we’ll explore the five key factors that define a successful GCC location for global enterprises—covering everything from talent readiness and digital infrastructure to the regulatory ecosystem and sustainability considerations.
The most critical factor for selecting a GCC location is access to a deep, skilled, and scalable talent pool. India, for instance, continues to dominate the GCC landscape because of its vast reservoir of engineers, data scientists, and finance professionals. However, enterprises today are not just seeking numbers—they’re seeking capabilities.
A successful GCC location offers a blend of technical expertise, managerial maturity, and innovation mindset. Countries like India, Poland, and the Philippines have evolved from pure delivery centers to strategic hubs for product development, AI innovation, and cybersecurity.
Progressive companies now also leverage AI recruitment tools to identify high-potential talent faster and with greater accuracy. These tools enable data-driven hiring and eliminate bias, ensuring that Talent Solutions are not just cost-effective but future-ready.
When choosing a GCC location, enterprises must evaluate:
A well-established centre of excellence thrives only where the right people are available in the right numbers—and that’s the foundation of any successful GCC location strategy.
Another defining factor for an effective GCC location is the quality of physical and digital infrastructure. The best-performing GCCs are those that operate out of cities with world-class office spaces, robust connectivity, and reliable power and data networks. A strong infrastructure forms the backbone of every centre of excellence, enabling teams to innovate, collaborate, and deliver with consistency across geographies.
Modern GCC locations must also be able to support hybrid work models, secure cloud operations, and real-time collaboration with headquarters across time zones. This is where emerging GCC hubs—like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Warsaw, and Manila—score high.
When assessing potential sites, enterprises should evaluate:
In today’s AI-driven world, the physical infrastructure is only half the story. A digitally resilient GCC location integrates security, scalability, and automation from day one. This foundation enables enterprises to not only operate efficiently but also innovate fearlessly.
The third factor shaping a successful GCC location is the regulatory and compliance environment. Global enterprises must operate with confidence that their data, intellectual property, and people are protected under clear legal frameworks.
Nations competing to become top GCC locations are simplifying labor laws, digitizing compliance processes, and creating single-window clearance systems for faster setup. India’s states like Telangana and Karnataka are exemplary, offering quick approvals and favorable tax policies for Global Capability Centers.
A well-chosen GCC location also minimizes legal friction by ensuring:
Furthermore, companies often adopt the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model to enter new markets efficiently. Under this model, a partner helps establish and operate the GCC before transferring ownership once it stabilizes—reducing compliance risk and speeding up the operational timeline.
According to a Deloitte whitepaper, 76% of India-based GCCs now handle cross-border tax functions such as corporate tax, transfer pricing, and litigation—showcasing how regulatory complexity is already being managed efficiently at scale. This statistic underscores India’s maturity as a trusted and compliant GCC location, where global enterprises can expand confidently under a stable, transparent policy regime.
A predictable regulatory environment not only protects businesses but also empowers them to innovate and grow—an indispensable element of every successful GCC location strategy.
Historically, the decision to set up a GCC location was driven largely by cost advantages. But cost today is just the entry ticket—not the differentiator. A truly successful GCC strategy balances short-term savings with long-term scalability.
When evaluating a GCC location, companies should analyze:
Countries like India continue to offer a compelling advantage—delivering operational costs that are 40–60% lower than Western markets—while offering innovation-led value. Mature GCC solutions providers also help optimize these costs by managing large-scale recruitment, facility setup, and compliance, ensuring smooth expansion.
According to a EY report, as of mid-2025, India currently hosts over 1,700 GCCs employing more than 1.9 million professionals, underscoring its position as the world’s most cost-efficient and scalable GCC location. This growth reflects India’s ability to provide not just economic advantage, but also access to diverse skills, technology capabilities, and mature ecosystems that support sustainable expansion.
However, scalability is equally vital. A great GCC location allows you to grow from 50 to 5000 employees without relocation or disruption. The most successful enterprises build their hubs in ecosystems that can evolve with their needs, offering flexibility, availability of adjacent talent, and robust vendor networks.
The final—and perhaps most strategic—factor defining a successful GCC location is its ecosystem maturity. A mature ecosystem is not just about the number of companies present but the quality of collaboration, knowledge sharing, and innovation it fosters.
Cities that have evolved into major GCC hubs—like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Krakow—thrive because they provide a dynamic mix of academia, startups, technology providers, and policy support. This ecosystem enables GCCs to shift from back-office functions to becoming true innovation accelerators.
For a global corporation, a strong local ecosystem means easier partnerships, faster prototyping, and access to cross-industry expertise. GCCs embedded in these ecosystems can evolve into strategic centres of excellence, driving R&D, AI, and next-gen product engineering.
Forward-thinking enterprises also integrate advanced digital tools and Talent Solutions within their GCCs—enabling them to upskill internal teams, foster leadership pipelines, and encourage cross-border innovation.
In essence, the right GCC location acts as a growth catalyst—nurturing innovation, agility, and a global mindset.
Selecting the right GCC location is a decision that must align with a company’s global strategy, not just its cost priorities. The world’s leading enterprises use a holistic framework that weighs both tangible and intangible factors—ranging from real estate costs and infrastructure to leadership availability and digital maturity.
A successful GCC location is one that offers:
As enterprises expand across borders, their GCC location becomes more than a geographic choice—it becomes a strategic foundation for transformation. When chosen well, it fuels innovation, reduces time-to-market, and positions the organization to thrive in a fast-evolving global economy.
The GCC model has matured far beyond cost savings. It’s now about strategic enablement—creating self-sufficient hubs that mirror the DNA of the parent organization. And as more companies adopt AI, digital transformation, and hybrid work models, the right GCC location will increasingly define not just where they operate—but how they innovate.
For global enterprises, the journey to setting up a successful GCC begins with one defining choice: selecting the ideal GCC location. It is this decision that determines access to talent, agility, scalability, and long-term value creation.
In an interconnected world, the GCC location is no longer a mere operational outpost—it’s the nucleus of transformation. Whether through GCC solutions, Build-Operate-Transfer partnerships, or digital-first Talent Solutions, the next decade of enterprise growth will be shaped by how effectively companies harness the power of the right GCC location. Because ultimately, in the race to build future-ready organizations, the smartest GCC location isn’t just where your teams sit—it’s where your innovation begins.
At Anlage, we help global enterprises identify, establish, and scale their Global Capability Centers through comprehensive GCC solutions that combine strategy, talent, compliance, infrastructure, and operations under one unified framework.
To explore how we can help you design, build, and scale your next-generation GCC in India, connect with us today!
A GCC location refers to the city or region where a Global Capability Center (GCC) is set up by an enterprise to manage operations such as technology, finance, analytics, or R&D. The right location ensures access to skilled talent, strong infrastructure, and regulatory stability.
Choosing the best GCC location depends on factors like talent availability, infrastructure, ease of doing business, scalability, and ecosystem maturity. The goal is to align the location with your organization’s long-term strategy, not just cost.
India is a leading GCC location due to its vast talent pool, cost efficiency, strong digital infrastructure, and mature ecosystem of startups, academia, and policy support. Cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune are global hubs for innovation and technology.
A well-chosen GCC location enables faster scaling, access to top talent, cost savings, and higher innovation capacity. It also enhances collaboration, compliance, and business continuity for global enterprises.
Anlage provides end-to-end support—from strategy and site selection to setup and scale—through its comprehensive GCC solutions. With deep expertise in Build-Operate-Transfer models and Talent Solutions, Anlage helps enterprises establish high-performing GCCs in India.
Gaurav Chawla, COO of Anlage Infotech, emphasized the transformative role of AI-powered analytics in HR at the 5th Edition of the GCC Summit 2024. Highlighting predictive analysis and smart tool utilization, he shared how these technologies can cut hiring cycle times by up to 60%, driving greater efficiency. The event took place at GMR Aerocity Hyderabad.
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