From cost efficiency to strategic value: PFI Innovation Centre India HR leaders explain the new GCC workforce

Cost efficiency remains relevant, but strategic capability is becoming a more prominent part of the equation. New centres are being designed to contribute to business decisions, develop specialised skills and operate as integrated extensions of global teams.

Global capability centres (GCCs) in India are moving beyond its traditional role as hubs for transactional and operational work. As organisations build capabilities in areas such as AI, analytics, engineering, forecasting, finance, HR and business decision-making, the workforce strategy behind these centres is also changing.

In an exclusive conversation with People Matters following the launch of PFI Innovation Centre India in Gurugram, Vicki A. Walia, Executive Vice President and Chief People and Experience Officer at Prudential Financial Inc. (PFI), and Upasna Nischal, Head of HR at PFI India, discussed how the development of GCCs is transforming workforce strategy from headcount and cost efficiency towards strategic capabilities, meaningful work, employee growth and long-term business value.

The emerging model is less about how much work a centre can process and more about the strategic value it can create. For organisations setting up and scaling new GCCs, this shift is influencing everything from the skills they hire to the employee experience they build.

Moving beyond the traditional GCC model

The transforming nature of GCCs begins with a fundamental question: what work should the organisation build capabilities around, and how should that work be done?

As AI alters jobs and workflows, organisations are increasingly examining whether a particular activity differentiates the business or is simply a routine requirement.

“If it's something that is kind of related to the strategy and moves the strategy forward, then you really want to make sure that you're building capabilities that support that work that is world class,” Vicki said.

This distinction is becoming important for workforce planning. Routine work can increasingly be automated, standardised or supported by technology, while strategically important work requires deeper expertise and stronger internal capabilities.

The interview also highlighted the growing importance of human-AI collaboration. Rather than viewing AI only through the lens of job replacement, organisations are considering how technology and human capabilities can work together to improve outcomes.

“AI for the sake of AI doesn't make sense probably. It needs to connect to what you're trying to solve as an organization,” Upasna said.

For employees, that does not necessarily mean everyone needs to become an AI developer. The emphasis is increasingly on understanding how technology can be applied to improve existing work and enable more strategic thinking.

“As long as one is clear about how to use it effectively to enhance your work and move to a more strategic thought process, I think that's great,” Upasna said.

GCCs are becoming extensions of global teams

Rather than functioning as satellite offices that execute instructions from headquarters, strategic GCCs are increasingly expected to participate in business decisions, capability building and problem-solving.

This is one of the clearest distinctions between traditional GCC models and newer strategic capability centres.

The focus is on building teams that contribute directly to business priorities such as modelling, forecasting and underwriting, rather than concentrating primarily on routine or transactional processes.

“We want the people and the teams that are here to function as an extension of our teams in the U.S.,” Vicki said.

This also requires closer integration between teams across geographies. Capability building cannot remain a one-way process in which headquarters decides what needs to be done and the GCC executes it.

Instead, workforce planning becomes a shared exercise involving leaders across locations.

The objective, as Upasna described it, is for India to become “a source of competitive advantage” rather than simply another delivery location.

That changes the role of HR as well. 

Building a GCC is no longer only about hiring enough people. It involves determining which capabilities the organisation needs, where those capabilities should sit, how teams should work across time zones and how talent can contribute to global business outcomes.

The new talent equation: purpose, work and growth

As GCCs compete for specialised talent, compensation remains important, but it is no longer the only factor shaping employment decisions.

The interview highlighted three interconnected expectations: purpose, meaningful work and individual growth.

For younger employees in particular, the attraction of an organisation can increasingly depend on whether the work feels meaningful and whether the employee can see a path for personal development alongside organisational growth.

“It's not just an organization growing, but as an individual, am I also really growing? Am I learning something?” Upasna said.

This creates a potential win-win equation for employers and employees. Organisations need capabilities that can create business impact, while employees want opportunities to build capabilities, take on meaningful work and grow their careers.

Purpose is another part of this equation.

“Purpose is so personal. And it really requires self-reflection,” Vicki said.

The expectation is therefore shifting from simply offering a job to creating an environment in which employees can understand why their work matters and how it contributes to a broader organisational objective.

Employee experience cannot be built through checkboxes

As organisations compete for talent, employee experience is becoming another differentiator. But the challenge is not simply adding more workplace initiatives.

Employee experience is shaped by what employees actually see, hear and feel in the workplace.

Organisations can communicate values, create employee programmes and celebrate milestones, but these efforts can lose credibility if employees experience something different when they need support from their leaders.

“If there is no genuinity in what one is trying to do, you may miss the mark completely,” Upasna said.

Trust therefore becomes an important part of employee experience.

If employees do not feel comfortable speaking up or believe that raising concerns could negatively affect them, formal statements about culture and values may have limited impact.

Leadership behaviour becomes particularly important here. Leaders are expected not only to communicate organisational values but also to demonstrate them through their own actions.

“I think leadership is critical. I think they have to role model behaviors. I think they have to create the environment,” Vicki said.

That also includes how organisations respond to failure and calculated risk. Leaders who acknowledge that they do not have all the answers can create space for employees to contribute, experiment and learn.

Building talent for an AI-led workplace

While technical capabilities will remain important, the interview placed greater emphasis on skills that allow employees to work effectively with technology.

1. Creativity

2. Problem-solving

3. Empathy 

4. Curiosity 

These skills are increasingly relevant because technology can provide tools and information, but employees still need to understand how to apply them.

“You can have the best of tech if people do not know how to kind of work with it to their advantage, it will not go anywhere,” Upasna said.

This changes the way workforce planning needs to approach AI.

Rather than assuming that every employee needs deep technical expertise, organisations may need to identify the specific capabilities required for different roles and then build the corresponding skills.

For some employees, that could mean designing AI solutions. For others, it could mean using AI tools effectively within their existing roles.

The distinction matters because future-ready workforce planning is not simply about adding AI skills to a job description. It is about understanding how work itself is changing.

Workforce planning starts with the capability map

As new GCCs prepare to scale, the first question is not simply how many employees they need.

It is what the organisation wants the centre to become.

The workforce strategy outlined in the interview begins with identifying the capabilities required to support global business priorities. Once those capabilities are clear, organisations can determine the talent profiles, hiring channels and development strategies required to build them.

A follow-the-sun operating model can also allow teams across geographies to contribute continuously while creating a more integrated global workforce.

This puts capability planning ahead of headcount planning.

The question shifts from “How many people do we need?” to “What do we need these teams to be able to do?”

That distinction could become increasingly important as AI changes the amount of work required for certain activities while increasing demand for higher-value skills.

For GCC leaders, that makes workforce strategy less about filling positions and more about designing the capabilities, culture and employee experience needed to create long-term business value.