India’s AI and cloud hiring boom is moving inside multinational companies’ own technology centers.
Global Capability Centers added nearly 200,000 net employees in fiscal 2026, almost twice the 110,000 added by IT services firms, according to TeamLease Digital data cited by The Economic Times. It was the third straight fiscal year in which GCCs led net hiring, widening the split between India’s traditional outsourcing base and its fast-growing in-house technology centers.
For APAC technology leaders, the shift changes how India fits into AI and cloud strategy. GCCs are no longer just offshore support hubs; many now handle AI platforms, cloud architecture, cybersecurity systems, and product engineering work where companies want closer oversight of data, intellectual property, and delivery.
IT services firms still employ more people overall, but GCCs are taking a larger share of new demand for AI, cloud, cybersecurity, and product roles.
Why companies are moving AI work in-house
The TeamLease hiring data, reported by The Economic Times, shows how quickly GCCs are gaining ground in new tech hiring. Multinationals are putting more AI and cloud work inside captive teams, especially when projects involve proprietary models, sensitive data, or regulated systems.
Deloitte’s Rohan Lobo told The Economic Times on June 4, 2026, that intellectual property control, data protection, regulation, and higher-value work are pushing more companies toward GCCs. Captive centers can make governance easier than a vendor’s shared delivery model when enterprises are building proprietary AI models or handling sensitive data.
The same governance questions are showing up in cloud strategy, where enterprises are moving from scattered AI pilots toward platforms that can manage agents, data, security, and workflow integration at scale.
The scale of India’s GCC market has also changed. Nasscom and Zinnov’s 2026 GCC landscape report, released May 6, said India had 2,117 GCCs employing about 2.36 million professionals in fiscal 2026. The ecosystem generated $98.4 billion in revenue, and more than 1,200 GCCs had embedded AI and machine learning capabilities.
That wider mandate puts pressure on the infrastructure beneath AI systems, including networks built to support agentic workloads.
AI talent shortages could slow GCC growth
The same Economic Times report said GCCs now account for an estimated 30% to 35% of AI-related hiring in India. Demand is concentrated in experienced roles: TeamLease Digital said mid-to-senior talent rose from 60% of GCC hiring in 2023 to more than 77% in fiscal 2026, with demand strongest in AI, platform engineering, cloud, cybersecurity, and data roles.
Talent supply is the constraint. In April, The Economic Times reported that Quess Corp’s Q4 FY26 findings estimated a 38% to 42% gap in AI and data skills across India’s GCC ecosystem. Deloitte’s Lobo separately told the newspaper that demand for AI specialists had risen more than 300% since 2024.
Public figures do not show how much GCC hiring is coming directly from IT services firms rather than new entrants, returning workers, or broader market expansion. For organizations weighing vendor delivery against captive teams, the strongest case for in-house work is tied to sensitive data, fraud controls, identity systems, product ownership, and regulatory oversight, especially as AI-driven security risks grow across the region.
India’s next phase of GCC growth now depends less on demand than on how quickly companies can train, hire, and retain AI and cloud specialists.
Also read: South Korea’s Nvidia-backed AI buildout shows how APAC AI plans are turning into cloud, memory, robotics, and manufacturing commitments.