Global Capability Centers: Key Hotspots and India’s Rise as the GCC Capital

Mexico, India, Costa Rica, Poland, Hungary, Philippines – a comparison of their USPs and business ecosystem

Interestingly, some emerging countries such as Mexico, India, Indonesia, Poland, Costa Rica, and Philippines have STEM or tech talent pool that is highly desirable by global enterprises. These nations have, over the years, established healthy presence of large tech, R&D and BPM centers of business conglomerates from headquarter nations in the USA, UK and Europe. Not only this, but their pro-active governments have tried to also establish a conducive business environment that help foster innovation, thereby attracting a larger share of global captive offshoring centers.

The ultra-fast pace of digital adoption across the world has once again re-surfaced the need for global enterprises to constantly engage in R&D and product innovation to stay relevant and competitive. Covid-19 pandemic gave further impetus to this trend with digital adoption witnessing a steep rise within a short span of time.

Global Business Innovation Sustainability Index 2023

Digital Adoption Swells post-Covid: Avg. share % of customer interaction that are digital

Innovation/ Digital

Business

Life

DEI

Sustainability Super Cities Overall Rank

9.67

9.34

6.19

5.32

2.5

10

2

India

70

9.56

8.58

6.41

7.5

4.56

7.71

14

Poland

8.26

7.71

5.65

8.15

3.58

9.45

15

Philippines

60

9.89

8.04

2.5

8.58

8.47

2.17

28

Costa Rica

50

7.82

7.17

5

9.02

1.84

9.02

29

Mexico

8.91

6.41

6.84

6.84

5.32

3.36

30

Hungary

40

Source: Tholons Global Business Innovation Sustainability Index, 2023 About the index: Over 40 evaluation metrics have been used under the broad categories of Business, Life, Innovation/Digital, DEI, Sustainability and Super Cities to evaluate close to 200 countries to identify top-50 digital nations pivoting towards the new equitable reality.

30

20

Tholons Global Business Innovation Sustainability (TBIS) Index 2023 is one such measure that compares almost 200 countries worldwide to identify top-50 digital nations that are pivoting towards new equitable reality. According to Tholons, countries such as India have become leaders in the digital transformation of industries and services globally, while few other emerging nations such as Poland, Philippines, Costa Rica, Mexico and Hungary are “vibrant” and “aspiring” towards innovation. These nations are toeing along the lines of advanced economies such as the USA, Canada, UK and France in terms in digital transformation and innovation, as per data in the TBIS 2023 report. Consequently, the world’s finest captive centers, or GCCs, are concentrated in these countries, making them highly discerning for global multinationals in their quest for talent hunt and innovation.

10

Pre-pandemic years

Post-pandemic period

0

2017

2018

Dec-19

Jul-20

Global

APAC

Europe

North America

Source: McKinsey Oct-2020 Global survey of executives

As a consequence of this consistent and sharp rise in digital adoption, the need for skilled talent in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has been increasing, resulting in its short supply across advanced nations including the USA, Canada, UK, and Europe.

4

5

GLOBAL CAPABILITY CENTERS:

Key Hotspots and India’s Rise as the GCC Capital