The AI GCC Paradox: More Intelligence, Less Scale

For years, a bigger team meant a more important GCC. That is changing fast, and most companies have not caught up yet.

Why this matters to GCC leaders today

Global capability centres in India used to grow the same way every time. Hire more people. Take on more work. Ask headquarters for a bigger budget. That formula is breaking down. AI tools can now do work that once needed a much bigger team. Counting heads no longer tells the full story of what a GCC is worth.

The real shift

The question is no longer how many people you have. It is what your team actually builds, decides and owns. We spoke with technology leaders across industries for this report, and the pattern was the same everywhere. Small teams using AI well are now doing work that used to take many more people, and this is already happening inside the companies we spoke with, not something still on the horizon.

What leaders on the ground are telling us

One leader we interviewed as part of Mint CIO Circle's The C-Suite Circle Community broke down exactly what stands in the way of a GCC becoming truly AI driven. He ranked the gaps from the most basic to the most advanced. The very first one may surprise you. Most companies still do not have their own data organised and connected in one place. Without that, AI stays a helper on the side. With it, AI can start running whole parts of the business on its own.

The report includes real work Kyndryl has done in this space. One partnership helped a company move from an old, cost focused model to one built around AI from day one. Another helped a large manufacturer speed up service response times and cut the time it takes to set up new systems.

The question every GCC leader should ask

If your GCC stopped hiring tomorrow, could it still grow?

What the full report covers

The AI GCC Paradox brings together direct quotes from leaders at Kimberly Clark, Avient Corporation, Carelon Global Solutions, JAS and Kyndryl, including Kyndryl's own global GCC leadership. It looks at what it really takes for a GCC to move from doing what it is told to deciding what gets built.