India’s Global Capability Centres are building AI and digital capability by reskilling existing mid-career employees and running leaner, specialised teams rather than relying only on external hiring, according to Quess Corp’s India GCC Tech Talent Landscape Q1 FY27 report.
Professionals with four to 12 years of experience accounted for nearly 56% of GCC hiring demand during the quarter, as career moves were driven by role adjacency rather than complete switches. Backend developers moved into applied AI engineering, data scientists into machine learning and model operations, and cloud engineers into platform engineering.
Overall GCC hiring grew 5% to 6% quarter-on-quarter, with recruitment concentrated in AI, data and analytics, platform engineering, cloud and cybersecurity. Smaller centres led the growth: GCCs with fewer than 500 employees posted the fastest hiring increase at around 8%, driven by new launches and dedicated AI teams. Tier II cities such as Coimbatore, Ahmedabad and Kochi accounted for 11% to 13% of hiring demand. The report flagged the widest supply-demand gap in AI and data analytics at 36% to 40%, followed by platform engineering.
Kapil Joshi, CEO of Quess IT Staffing, said India’s GCC ecosystem was entering a more mature phase in which organisations focus on building capabilities rather than merely expanding headcount. He added that 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.
The findings point to smaller, capability-led teams and a widening role for Tier II delivery hubs alongside established centres in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai and the National Capital Region.
