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The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India is accelerating, with nearly 70 per cent of centres investing in generative AI (GenAI), according to a report on Wednesday. 

The EY India GCC Pulse Survey 2024, based on insights from 88 GCCs in India, reveals that 78 per cent of GCCs are upskilling teams for GenAI adoption, while 37 per cent are piloting use cases, highlighting a shift from experimentation to practical applications of AI focused on talent management and risk mitigation.

It identified climate change and sustainability agenda top focus area for GCCs in the country. This was followed by 85 per cent wanting to expand functional capabilities and 61 per cent wanting to drive enterprise-wide digital transformation.

However, the rising cost of talent, challenges in attracting talent at the required scale or speed, and improvement in leadership development posed key risks to these priorities, the report said.

"The survey highlights the transformative role of technology in driving growth within GCCs, with a clear emphasis on GenAI. As GCCs prioritise talent, digital transformation, and robust security frameworks, they are not only improving operational efficiency but positioning themselves as global innovation hubs," said Arindam Sen, Partner, and GCC Sector Leader – Technology, Media & Telecommunications, EY India.

Further, 69 per cent of firms mentioned customer experience, where they plan to leverage GenAI capabilities. This includes applications such as automated chatbots, personalised support, and sentiment analysis.

This was followed by 57 per cent citing operations as the next focus area, and 47 per cent aiming to leverage GenAI for IT and cybersecurity. Product development, finance, HR, sales, and marketing were also identified as key areas of focus.

About 76 per cent of firms are integrating talent from GCCs into core global innovation teams, while 78 per cent are upskilling their internal teams to facilitate GenAI adoption.

The future of work remains a hybrid working model. About 70 per cent of survey participants believe that the majority of their workforce will continue to work flexibly for the next 12 months, with only 9.9 per cent of their workforce expected to work entirely from the office.

However, this shift does not pose a significant risk to business productivity or service quality, the report said.

“The next frontier for GCCs will be in integrating GenAI into their core business functions to create intelligent workflows, enhance decision-making processes, and offer more personalised customer experiences,” he added.