EY survey shows 58% of GCCs adopting Agentic AI; data strategy rises sharply

Global capability centres in India are shifting decisively from AI exploration to enterprise-wide deployment, with a sharp rise in investment in Agentic AI and dedicated innovation teams, according to the EY India GCC Pulse Survey 2025.

EY said 58% of GCCs operating in the country are already investing in Agentic AI, while a further 29% plan to scale its use over the next year. GenAI adoption also continues to deepen, with 83% of centres investing in the technology and the share of pilots edging up from 37% last year to 43% in 2025.

The survey shows GCCs are applying GenAI largely in customer service, cited by 65% of respondents, followed by finance at 53%, operations at 49% and IT and cybersecurity at 45%. Adoption of business intelligence has risen to 86%, up from 80% a year earlier, and data strategy maturity has climbed to 67% from 51%.

A structural shift is also underway in how GCCs organise innovation. Two-thirds of centres have created dedicated innovation teams and incubation programmes to generate and scale ideas globally from India, reinforcing the country’s role as a strategic hub within multinational operating models.

Alongside the findings, EY launched its new Intelligent GCC solution suite, which it said is designed to help companies build AI-native GCCs. The suite integrates capabilities across value-chain redesign, governance frameworks, responsible AI, and targeted upskilling, and builds on EY’s foundational EY.AI platform.

The survey also highlights growing strategic influence. More than half of India-based GCCs — 52% — now share accountability for global decisions, with another 26% formally consulted. A fifth of centres are progressing toward full ownership of selected enterprise functions. Increasingly, core responsibilities such as global strategy leadership (45%) and leadership pipeline development (35%) are also being driven from India.

“The combination of talent, cross-functional maturity and a rapidly advancing AI ecosystem gives global firms something they can’t easily build elsewhere,” Manoj Marwah, Partner and GCC Sector Leader for Financial Services at EY India, said. He added that GCCs are becoming decision centres shaping enterprise strategy across risk, product innovation and digital transformation.

Arindam Sen, Partner and GCC Sector Leader for Technology, Media and Telecommunications at EY India, said the model has entered “a new chapter”, with centres moving beyond cost advantage to create “innovation arbitrage”. He noted a shift from experimentation to commercialisation, with more use cases deployed at scale.

Over the next 12 months, GCCs’ top priorities include digital transformation, cited by 61% of leaders, followed by cost reduction at 54% and expanding functional scope at 51%. Technology and transformation account for the largest share of budget allocation at 25%, with talent and workforce investment close behind at 23%.

Talent strategies are shifting toward skills rather than headcount. Reskilling, at 71%, and tech-led growth, at 70%, dominate priorities, alongside hiring for niche skills such as AI and machine learning, data engineering and business intelligence. Attrition has fallen for a third consecutive year, from 13% in 2023 to 9% in 2025.

In terms of risk and cyber capabilities, the report found that only 7% of GCCs have fully embedded cyber Centres of Excellence, signalling the need for stronger governance. Monitoring of third-party access to data has increased from 44% to 60%, reflecting heightened awareness of external risks. Regulatory concerns remain concentrated on transfer pricing, named by 63% of respondents, while issues related to SEZ rules, labour laws and double taxation have eased.

The survey draws on responses from centres averaging 800 employees and was conducted between August and October 2025 across major hubs including Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Delhi NCR, Mumbai and several emerging tier-2 locations.

EY said the maturing GCC landscape in India points toward more globally integrated operating models, with AI expected to play a larger role in redesigning processes, strengthening talent and shaping enterprise-wide decision-making in the years ahead.