GCCs turn to internal reskilling to meet AI talent needs

India’s Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are increasingly turning to role-adjacent reskilling to meet their growing need for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital expertise. Instead of depending mainly on external recruitment, companies are enabling experienced employees with related technical backgrounds to move into emerging technology positions.

Hiring trends for the first quarter of FY 2027 show that professionals with four to 12 years of experience accounted for 56 per cent of GCC recruitment demand. This indicates a strong preference for mid-career talent capable of transitioning into specialised roles through targeted training and structured career pathways.

The shift is visible across several functions. Backend developers are being prepared for applied AI engineering, while data scientists are moving towards machine learning and model operations. Data engineers are being trained for AI data platform roles, and cloud engineers are transitioning into platform engineering. Similar movements are taking place in quality assurance, cybersecurity and DevOps.

Overall, GCC hiring grew by about 5 to 6 per cent quarter-on-quarter. Demand remained strongest in AI, data and analytics, cloud and infrastructure engineering, platform engineering and cybersecurity. AI, data and analytics emerged as the fastest-growing capability, expanding by nearly 10 per cent and contributing about 17 per cent of total hiring demand.

Talent shortages of up to 40 per cent in AI and data roles encourage organisations to develop employees internally. Smaller GCCs, with fewer than 500 workers, recorded the quickest hiring growth at around 8 per cent. Larger centres with 1,000 to 5,000 employees continued to generate about 40 per cent of total demand.

Manufacturing and industrial companies held the largest hiring share, followed by banking, financial services and insurance. Professional services and consulting posted the strongest quarterly growth, while telecom and networks were the only sectors to report a decline during the period under review across India.