India’s ‘back offices’ are evolving into leadership hubs for global companies

This report is from this week’s CNBC’s “Inside India” newsletter, which brings you timely, insightful news and market commentary on the emerging powerhouse. Subscribe here.

The big story

Sipping coffee in a café surrounded by Singapore’s skyline, Anshuman Magazine of real estate services firm CBRE told me that global capability centers (GCCs) accounted for 38% of office space demand in India in the third quarter.

“The demand for office space is at a record high in the country,” Magazine, the head of India, South-East Asia and Middle East & Africa markets, said.

He added that the demand for GCCs — which are offshore offices where multinational firms run operations ranging from finance or IT — will continue. Three months ago, his firm made a hire in the U.S. dedicated solely to helping clients establish GCCs in India.

Just this week, U.S. mutual fund giant Vanguard inaugurated its new GCC in Hyderabad. Heading the firm’s operations in India is Venkatesh Natarajan, who relocated to Hyderabad after more than a decade in the U.S. Before Vanguard, Natarajan served in leadership roles at companies like Walmart, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Qurate Retail.

He isn’t alone. Many global companies are now hiring or relocating leadership roles to their GCC offices in India.

Ankur Mittal serves as chief technology officer and managing director of Lowe’s India, while Navneet Kapoor is the executive vice president and chief technology officer at Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk. Both are based in Bengaluru.

GCCs, in their earliest form, were remote offices handling finance, procurement and IT services for global firms seeking to cut operational costs. Today, these “back offices” are driving transformation, not merely supporting it.

Increasingly, many of these centers are leading efforts on product engineering, AI model development, and automation strategy — co-owning innovation and intellectual property in the process.

“The key difference between traditional back offices and GCCs is ownership,” said Nitesh Bansal, managing director of R Systems, a U.S.-based consultancy that advises companies on GCC strategy.  As firms move their R&D or engineering operations to India, they are looking to hire for leadership roles that come with greater accountability, he added.

Experts say many multinational firms are adopting dual leadership models, where global business unit heads in India co-own strategy and product outcomes with their counterparts at headquarters.

“It’s less about delegation and more about shared accountability,” said Naveen Gattu, head of global growth at GCC consultancy firm Straive. The talent profile within GCCs, he added, is “definitely changing.”

Five years ago, GCC hires were mainly for roles in engineering, analytics, and operations. Now there’s a clear pivot toward senior and strategic roles. 

“GCCs are now hiring VP-level and even global function heads who are permanently based in India or Southeast Asia, managing enterprise-wide mandates,” Gattu said.

According to GCC consultancy ANSR, leadership roles in Bengaluru more than doubled from 21 in 2024 to 44 so far this year. In Hyderabad, the jump was even sharper, rising from 8 leadership roles in 2024 to 42 year to date. Other Indian cities with GCCs are seeing similar trends.

“GCCs have evolved from delivery centers into leadership hubs that shape enterprise strategy,” said Lalit Ahuja, founder and chief executive officer at ANSR, adding that some leaders “who grew within their GCCs have gone on to become global [C-suite roles] while continuing to operate from India.”

India currently hosts over 1,800 GCCs — nearly half of the world’s total — according to a July report published by the Confederation of Indian Industries and Deloitte. Every two weeks, three new GCCs are set up in India, and 60% of existing centers plan to expand.

GCCs today manage key functions that directly influence decisions, revenue and customer experience.

“To manage this complexity, companies need leaders who can think globally and execute locally, and India’s talent pool is uniquely suited for that,” said Jha of ANSR.

— CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal contributed to this report. 

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Saurabh Mukherjea, Founder and CIO of Marcellus Investment Managers, said AI will impact Indian corporations and the labor market.

Goldman Sachs’ Chief Asia Credit Strategist, Kenneth Ho, sees growth potential in India’s corporate bond market. He also shared the key lessons India can learn from China’s credit boom.

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In the markets

The Nifty 50 was set to clock its second consecutive weekly decline as it ticked 1.3% lower this week. The index has risen more than 8% this year.

The benchmark 10-year Indian government bond yield hovered near the flatline at 6.512, continuing its descent for four straight sessions.

Coming up

Nov. 7: Fintech firm Pine Labs launches IPO

Nov. 11-12: Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar to attend G7 meet in Canada

Nov. 12: CPI inflation data for October

Nov. 14: Wholesale inflation data for October

Each weekday, CNBC’s “Inside India” news show gives you news and market commentary on the emerging powerhouse businesses, and the people behind its rise. Livestream the show on YouTube and catch highlights here. 

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