“Evangelize innovation, don’t just execute it”: The new mandate for GCC leaders

The story of World Functionality Centres (GCCs) is not one in every of quiet back-end effectivity. It’s a narrative of reinvention. By embracing cutting-edge applied sciences similar to Synthetic Intelligence (AI), they don’t seem to be simply enabling sooner decision-making or product innovation—they’re redefining the very tradition of IT. What was as soon as a labour-driven assist engine is evolving into an idea-led, research-intensive ecosystem. This shift is repositioning its tech expertise as co-creators in international innovation.

This shift shouldn’t be occurring in a single day. It’s being pushed by sensible enterprise wants: how do you keep aggressive when applied sciences evolve sooner than boardroom cycles? How do you scale back dependency on distributors and begin proudly owning your individual platforms? And what occurs when the issues your prospects are going through require each native perception and international coordination?

These questions have been entrance and centre on the last version of Bosch Conversations, held in partnership with The Financial Occasions on Might 22 on the Hilton Embassy Bengaluru. Titled ‘GCCs as Engines of Strategic Innovation: Creating World Centres of Excellence’, the roundtable was moderated by Akhil George, Senior Digital Editor, The Occasions of India. It introduced collectively senior leaders who’ve spent the previous couple of years pushing their centres past price financial savings in direction of strategic possession, expertise management, and tighter enterprise alignment.

The audio system included Ganesh Mahadevan – Chief Info and Digital Officer, Bosch World Software program Applied sciences; Anuprita Bhattacharya – Head of Merck IT Centre (MITC), IT Nation Head, Merck Group; Harikrishnan Aravindakshan – VP of Engineering, Goal; Ranganath Sadasiva – CTO, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise; Prakash Kumar – Head of Company IT, Carl Zeiss India; Dr Rajesh Puneyani – VP Know-how & Web site Chief, Kenvue Options India; and, Mayur Purandar – VP Know-how, Lowe’s India.

From execution to evangelism: Rethinking the GCC mandate

Ganesh Mahadevan, CIO and CDO of Bosch World Software program Applied sciences (BGSW), set the tone by articulating how GCCs should evolve into proactive brokers of innovation throughout the enterprise worth chain. BGSW, he mentioned, has consciously positioned itself past a supply unit right into a software-driven strategic pillar of Bosch’s international operations.

”We didn’t simply wish to concentrate on doing—that’s necessary, in fact. We requested: how can we shift from the doing zone into the considering zone? And the way can we construct capabilities within the working zone as nicely? ”. Mahadevan emphasised that it’s about aligning the best way GCC management thinks, operates, and executes. “As a GCC, our function is to actively evangelise innovation throughout this complete worth chain”..”

He argued that GCCs have a singular alternative to steer international experimentation in Synthetic Intelligence (AI), supplied the strategy is ruled by financial relevance.

Aligning with enterprise: Know-how as a method, not an finish
Anuprita Bhattacharya, Head of Merck IT Centre (MITC) and IT Nation Head, echoed the shift in orientation however emphasised a unique axis—alignment. For GCCs to function as true Centres of Excellence, she argued, they need to floor their improvements in actual enterprise challenges and foster tighter integration with management and area groups.

“One essential enabler is robust sponsorship from management—with out that backing, progress is troublesome,” she mentioned. “Equally necessary are having the appropriate expertise in place and fostering various views, with expertise serving as an enabler somewhat than the top aim.”

Pointing to widespread operational friction, she added, “At instances, what occurs is… IT thinks otherwise. Enterprise thinks otherwise, and that turns into an enormous bottleneck… If it’s important to say that GCCs are actually driving worth, it’s as a result of you recognize you’re getting nearer to the enterprise downside, and also you’re simply not considering expertise solely.”

Innovation by accountability and intent
Harikrishnan Aravindakshan, VP of Engineering, Goal, strengthened the purpose about GCCs proudly owning outcomes, not simply enabling them. He highlighted how Goal’s India-based groups play a mission-critical function in powering its end-to-end retail operations.

“It isn’t about what can or can’t be completed. It’s about what’s your intentionality? What issues are you making an attempt to resolve? It? How do you typically do this?” he mentioned, calling for extra deliberate experimentation and sooner studying cycles.

“The most important use of AI has been speedy experimentation… prototyping, speedy experimentation, that’s the place I feel now we have seen it put to sort of finest use,” he added, cautioning in opposition to indiscriminate AI software when easier rule-based options suffice.

Product innovation, not simply expertise enablement
For Ranganath Sadasiva, CTO, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, the evolution of GCCs is intently tied to expertise maturity. He famous that GCCs are actually taking part in a full-stack innovation function—overlaying all the things from hybrid cloud integration to ESG-driven initiatives—largely as a consequence of their end-to-end visibility.

“Once we began interacting with GCCs, they have been primarily doing numerous price arbitrated work… the worth chain has actually come up, and that’s purely due to numerous expertise enablement and expertise selecting up that expertise,” he mentioned.

On AI particularly, he issued a realistic reminder. “AI is a expertise, the 360 diploma expertise… many a time whenever you take a look at AI and use instances and the success of the use case, there’s a massive hole… as a result of there is not alignment from a enterprise perspective.”

A governance-first strategy to AI and innovation
Closing the loop between strategic ambition and operational rigour, Prakash Kumar, Head of Company IT at Carl Zeiss India, shared how the German optics main’s India GCC—barely a 12 months outdated—is already executing on a deep integration mandate throughout R&D, manufacturing automation, and enterprise techniques.

Kumar underscored the corporate’s dedication to constructing somewhat than shopping for innovation capabilities, with India taking part in a pivotal function. “We’re shifting in direction of a ‘100% construct’ technique. This isn’t nearly price—it’s about engineering depth and long-term functionality.”

Zeiss is making use of a governance-first lens to generative AI by inside platforms like ‘Zeiss GPT’, avoiding fragmented or advert hoc deployments. “We’re not ready for top-down directions. Innovation is being pushed from inside—by hackathons, inside initiatives, and a tradition of problem-solving.”

Dr Rajesh Puneyani, VP Know-how & Web site Chief at Kenvue Options India, shared a pointy, real-world perspective on how Kenvue’s newly established GCC is driving enterprise transformation from India. Having spun out from Johnson & Johnson in 2023, Kenvue positioned the GCC on the coronary heart of its international operations technique. From day one, Kenvue prioritised constructing high-impact groups similar to AI and information science, and provide chain operations in India. “It isn’t about particular person features delivering to their features. It’s all a couple of mini ecosystem—everybody coming collectively and delivering beneath one umbrella. The Cloud group, software program engineering, information group, enterprise information lake—come collectively and ship in a single day.”

Mayur Purandar, VP – Know-how, Lowe’s India, defined the problem of bridging area data between US retailer operations and the Bengaluru tech groups. Because the India groups have to construct, check, and deploy expertise for bodily shops within the US, they created a completely replicated “retailer” setting inside their Bengaluru workplace, mimicking an actual US retailer. This bodily setup allows the India groups to develop and validate software program with full context, making certain options work flawlessly when deployed in precise shops abroad.

Reflecting on a broader dialogue about AI’s affect on jobs and upskilling, Purandar argued that whereas AI will remodel the character of engineering work, it gained’t substitute engineers outright. “Engineer jobs can be changed by engineers utilizing AI.” He additionally highlighted the corporate’s intentional efforts to construct management variety and nurture ladies leaders inside their Bengaluru groups.

From experimental AI sandboxes to domain-specific innovation, the roundtable mirrored a shared recognition: India’s GCCs are not auxiliary nodes. They’re strategic engines with deep possession, rising accountability, and increasing affect over international product and expertise roadmaps.

As Mahadevan put it: “IoT, innovation, possession and liberating expertise… could be the engine of strategic innovation.”

For extra such essential evaluation and knowledgeable insights, watch the dialog right here.

Bosch Conversations is a worldwide, by-invite flagship sequence that brings collectively thought leaders. Hosted by Bosch Software and Digital Solutions, it focuses on digital disruptions and management within the context of market wants and trade challenges.