FEATURE
In my two decades of working with global enterprises and leading GCCs, in financial services, banks and now at UKG, I’ ve had a frontrow seat to this evolution.
At UKG, our India Centre of Excellence reflects this journey beautifully. We started modestly back in 2007 and today we’ re a 3,500 + strong team spread across Noida, Pune and smaller hubs in Bengaluru and Mumbai. But more than the scale, it’ s the impact we have globally that excites me.
Our teams here are driving critical R & D, global product engineering and customer success. In fact, some of our most ambitious AI-first initiatives are being led entirely from India – proof that these locations can shape the future of work itself.
Why product ownership is key to driving innovation
When India’ s GCCs first came into being, they were largely seen as the delivery arms – executing instructions sent from headquarters thousands of miles away. The mandate was narrow: cut costs, deliver efficiency and keep the operations going.
But over the years, the landscape has completely changed. A team of an HR tech company in Bengaluru working on a payroll module, for instance, now moves beyond coding what was handed down. They are spotting gaps, proposing new features and asking bigger questions.
What if compliance could be automated? What if scheduling could adapt in real time to workforce demand?
Slowly, their role has grown from executing to solving problems.
Today, many GCCs – including ours at UKG – are trusted with complete product ownership. That means we own the journey of a product from its very first sketch on the whiteboard to its launch in the hands of customers worldwide.
Nitin Chandel, GVP and India Country Manager, UKG www. intelligentcio. com
INTELLIGENT CIO APAC
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