India's GCCs turn to internal AI reskilling as talent shortages persist: Quess report
GCCs in India are expanding the AI talent pool by enabling engineers to take up these additional roles thereby enhancing their skills.
Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India are increasingly building artificial intelligence (AI) and digital capabilities by reskilling existing employees rather than relying solely on external hiring, according to Quess Corp's India GCC Tech Talent Landscape – Q1 FY27 Report.
The report highlights a shift towards developing AI talent from adjacent technology roles as demand for specialised skills continues to outpace supply.
The report found that career mobility in the first quarter of FY27 was driven largely by role adjacency instead of complete career changes. Backend developers are transitioning into applied AI engineering, data scientists into machine learning and model operations, data engineers into AI data platform engineering, cloud engineers into platform engineering, and DevOps professionals into DevSecOps roles.
Overall GCC hiring grew 5-6% quarter-on-quarter during the period, with professionals having four to 12 years of experience accounting for nearly 56% of hiring demand. Recruitment remained concentrated in AI, data and analytics, platform engineering, cloud and infrastructure engineering, and cybersecurity as organisations continued to prioritise critical digital capabilities.
The report also highlighted a widening talent gap in emerging technology domains. AI and data analytics recorded the highest supply-demand gap at 36-40%, followed by platform engineering at 32-36%. To bridge these shortages, companies are increasingly combining external recruitment with structured internal reskilling programmes.
Among industry verticals, professional services and consulting emerged as the fastest-growing GCC segment, recording around 9% quarter-on-quarter hiring growth, while manufacturing & industrial remained the largest recruiter with a 25.1% share of demand. BFSI accounted for 20.9% of hiring, whereas Telecom & Networks was the only sector to witness a decline.
The report further noted that GCCs with fewer than 500 employees posted the fastest hiring growth of around 8%, driven by new centre launches and specialised AI teams. Meanwhile, Tier II cities such as Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, and Kochi continued to strengthen their role in technology delivery, accounting for 11-13% of hiring demand alongside established hubs such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, and the National Capital Region.
Commenting on the findings, Kapil Joshi, CEO of Quess IT Staffing, said India's GCC ecosystem is entering a more mature phase where organisations are focusing on creating capabilities rather than merely expanding headcount.
He said the combination of AI adoption, workforce transformation and the growing contribution of smaller GCCs and Tier II cities would position India as a global centre for enterprise innovation and product leadership.