Agentic AI adoption surges as 58% of India GCCs go beyond experimentation: Report

New Delhi [India], November 23 (ANI): India-based Global Capacity Centres (GCC) have moved from Artificial Intelligence (AI) experimentation to enterprise-scale adoption, with 58 per cent of centres currently investing in Agentic AI and another 29 per cent planning to scale over the next year, as per the latest edition of EY India GCC Pulse Survey 2025.

The survey reveals that GCCs are applying GenAI where it matters most - enhancing customer service (65 per cent), followed by finance (53 per cent), operations (49 per cent), IT and cybersecurity (45 per cent). Business intelligence adoption has increased to 86 per cent from 80 per cent last year, while data strategy has risen to 67 per cent from 51 per cent.

Two-third of GCCs (67 per cent) are creating dedicated innovation teams and incubation programs to generate, test and globalize ideas from India, the report added.

The survey reveals that GCCs in India are becoming key collaborators in global decision-making with over half of India centres (52 per cent) holding shared accountability for global decisions, while another 26 per cent are formally consulted. Twenty per cent centres are on their way to operate with full ownership from India for select functions. Moreover, critical responsibilities are being driven from India GCCs, including global strategy leadership (45 per cent) and leadership pipeline development (35 per cent).

Remarking on the findings, Manoj Marwah, Partner and GCC Sector Leader - Financial Services, EY India, said, "Our survey shows that this shift is well underway at GCCs in India. The combination of talent, cross-functional maturity and a rapidly advancing AI ecosystem gives global firms something they can't easily build elsewhere."

Adding to it, Arindam Sen, Partner and GCC Sector Leader - Technology, Media and Entertainment and Telecommunications, EY India, said, "We're also seeing GCCs move from curiosity to commercialisation in their AI journey, with more centres piloting and deploying use cases that materially change how work gets done."

When asked about GCCs' strategic priorities with regard to operating models over the next 12 months, leaders cited digital transformation (61 per cent) as their leading focus area, followed by reducing costs (54 per cent) and expanding functional scope (51 per cent).

In terms of budget allocation, GCCs are doubling down most on technology and transformation (25 per cent), followed by talent and workforce (23 per cent).

Taking on deeper enterprise roles, 92 per cent of centres aim to deliver value beyond cost arbitrage and manage end-to-end processes for global enterprises (87 per cent) over the next 12 months.

In-house operations remain the dominant model at 84 per cent, while outsourcing has risen from 8 per cent in 2024 to 12 per cent this year, as GCCs more intentionally tap external partners for non-core work.

Reskilling at 71 per cent and tech-led growth at 70 per cent now shape their core talent strategy, reinforced by a stronger focus on hiring for niche skills at 63 per cent. 81 per cent GCCs are upskilling internal teams on GenAI, while 66 per cent are prioritising deep domain expertise, AI and ML (63 per cent) and data engineering and business intelligence (54 per cent), signalling a shift beyond general management roles.

At the same time, attrition continued to decline at GCCs, from 13 per cent in 2023 to 11 per cent in 2024 and now down to 9 per cent in 2025, reflecting stronger retention strategies across centers.

The survey revealed that most GCCs operate at a moderate level of cybersecurity maturity, with only 7 per cent having a fully embedded Center of Excellence, signalling room to strengthen governance. The report also notes an increase in monitoring of third-party access to data, from 44 per cent in 2024 to 60 per cent in 2025, reflecting a focus on managing external risks and building cyber resilience.

On the regulatory front, transfer pricing remains among the key concerns for GCCs at 63 per cent, unchanged from 2024, while compliance complexity and data privacy concerns (42 per cent vs. 32 per cent) have risen. In contrast, challenges related to SEZ and STPI regulations (22 per cent), labour laws (20 per cent), currency and repatriation policies (17 per cent), and double taxation (10 per cent) have eased in, the report added. (ANI)

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