Articles

Global Capability Centers as data hubs: Building a foundation for advanced analytics and AI

- Panchalee Thakur

In a world where data defines business success, organizations are finding new ways to turn information into insights for efficient operations and business breakthroughs. It has given rise to greater reliance on global capability centers (GCCs)—dedicated entities set up by companies to streamline and centralize key business functions—as dynamic data hubs.

Going beyond their traditional role as centers for cost arbitrage and fulfilling new market needs, today, GCCs use specialized talent, data, and digital technologies to help companies deliver value at scale and speed. By centralizing data, tackling fragmentation, and running analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives, GCCs are becoming the engines of business intelligence, innovation, and decision-making capabilities.

In 2023, over 300 GCCs were set up globally across industries and regions, including Asia Pacific, besides established locations in the US and Europe. There is a marked shift in how a GCC is being set up and operated, with around 50% of GCCs being established in partnership with third-party providers, compared to less than 25% a few years ago.

This article looks at the role of GCCs as data hubs, the technology behind this transformation, emerging trends, and what organizations can do to unlock the full potential of GCCs in the age of evolving technologies.

The role of GCCs in a data-driven era

As businesses strive to stay ahead, their ability to harness and refine data has become essential. GCCs are evolving to support them in building data-driven cultures, where decisions are guided by insights and supported by scalable technology frameworks. To accelerate this shift, many organizations are adopting the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model to establish GCCs efficiently, laying the foundation for advanced practices in data and analytics.

According to EY’s GCC Pulse Survey 2023, “55% have established a mature data and analytics practice as part of their digital strategy.” Not far behind are robotic process automation and cybersecurity as important tools to drive enterprise-wide value.

Driving business intelligence (BI) and AI initiatives

Data centralization and governance

By consolidating data from multiple sources across geographies, GCCs help create a single, integrated data ecosystem. With a robust data governance framework, GCCs ensure data quality and compliance while also breaking down silos across business units. This unified approach supports predictive analytics, personalization, and real-time decision-making.

Consolidating expertise

GCCs have cross-functional teams of data scientists, machine learning experts, and AI developers. This setup improves collaboration, reduces duplication, and enables faster time-to-value for analytics and AI projects.

Operational efficiency

GCCs embed analytics and automation into processes to help organizations reduce costs, improve efficiency, and increase agility.

GCCs as data integrators

The role of GCCs as data integrators is key to solving one of the biggest challenges enterprises face today—fragmented data. By connecting different systems and bringing scattered datasets into a unified framework, GCCs enable organizations to create consistent, accessible, and reliable data systems. Their approach includes using standardized formats, building centralized repositories, and implementing strong governance policies.

Data centralization is fundamental to GCCs’ role as data hubs. With a single data repository, organizations can ensure data consistency by harmonizing formats, standards, and governance policies. They gain real-time access to key information and make faster, more informed decisions. GCCs also lay the groundwork for advanced analytics by creating structured and scalable data architectures.

To break down data silos, GCCs deploy data integration platforms to link diverse data sources and use tools such as APIs and middleware to get data flowing across systems. Additionally, robust data governance frameworks will also safeguard data quality and ensure adherence to compliance requirements.

To fulfill a GCC’s role as a data hub, adoption of new technologies is essential, including:

  • Cloud platforms: Offer scalable storage and computing power to handle data-heavy workloads
  • Big data technologies: Tools such as Hadoop and Spark for processing large volumes of data
  • Real-time analytics platforms: Provide instant insights to make timely decisions
  • AI and machine learning models: Support predictive analytics and intelligent automation

Key steps to transform GCCs into data hubs

Organizations need to take a strategic approach in how they plan, operate, and scale their GCC. Following these steps can help GCCs become data hubs that deliver measurable outcomes for clients.

Step 1: Define vision and governance

A clear vision aligns stakeholders and sets the objectives for GCC transformation. A governance framework ensures data standardization and compliance while building an analytics-driven culture. Gartner estimates that by 2025, 80% of organizations aiming to scale digital business will fail due to outdated data and analytics governance.

Key actions:

  • Define the scope and objectives of GCCs as data hubs
  • Create a centralized governance framework to enforce data standards

Step 2: Get the right technology

GCCs need the right tools to build analytical capabilities:

  • Cloud-based platforms for scalable storage and compute power
  • Advanced analytics tools and AI frameworks to get insights from data
  • Real-time data pipelines for seamless data flow

Step 3: Build analytical maturity

Building analytical maturity in GCCs means:

  • Upskilling teams in data science, machine learning, and analytics
  • Combining technical teams and business units to solve real-world challenges
  • Automation to speed up data preparation and analysis

Step 4: Measure

To measure the success of GCCs as data hubs, organizations should track:

  • Data-driven outcomes: Speed of decision-making, operational cost reduction, customer satisfaction
  • ROI: Returns on investment in technologies and analytics initiatives
  • Business impact: Revenue growth, market competitiveness, and innovation

Driving innovation with emerging technologies

As data volumes and complexities grow, GCCs are poised to go a step further than being a data hub. There is an opportunity to evolve a GCC into an innovation hub. Future-focused GCCs will drive emerging trends such as:

Edge analytics

With the rise of IoT devices, real-time data processing at the edge is important. GCCs will use edge computing to analyze data closer to the source and reduce latency. For instance, GCCs can leverage edge data from warehouse IoT devices to manage inventory levels and optimize delivery routes in real-time.

IoT insights

IoT devices generate massive amounts of data, and GCCs will aggregate IoT data to get overall insights into operations and support smart manufacturing, energy optimization, and connected ecosystems. For example, for utility or mining companies, GCCs can aggregate data from connected grids to optimize energy.

Next-Gen AI applications

The combination of GCCs and AI will bring Generative AI to speed up content creation, personalization, and design. It will unlock AI-driven automation to increase operational efficiency, reduce human error, and use predictive AI models to forecast market trends and customer needs. From automating repetitive tasks such as compliance reporting to using AI-powered customer service chatbots and predictive AI models to identify skill gaps, GCCs will offer a wide range of capabilities to add value. However, to realize these benefits, GCCs must foster cross-functional collaboration where talent from data science, AI, and business operations work together to drive innovation.

Driving growth through data and innovation

Today, GCCs are recognized as a critical enabler in an organization’s ability to harness data and become future-ready. These data hubs lay the groundwork for analyzing and applying AI, tackling scattered information, and delivering instant insights for continued business success. Research shows that organizations that use data analytics effectively report up to a 20% improvement in productivity.

By adopting cutting-edge tech and staying aligned with new market developments, GCCs can turn into hotspots for innovation. It can boost an organization’s ability to improve response times with data analytics by spotting patterns, fine-tuning plans, and making smart decisions on the go. Data-driven insights can also power tailored customer interactions for deeper loyalty and improved, measurable outcomes—in fact, companies using customer analytics are 5-6 times more likely to see higher profits year over year.

For organizations that want to get the most out of their GCCs, the route is clear: centralize data, adopt the right technologies, and build an analytics-driven culture. With 76% of GCCs identifying data as a key area for growth, investing in these centers is a step toward greater business. By partnering with an experienced provider, enterprises can set up and scale their GCCs with greater ease and unlock new levels of innovation and growth.

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About the author

Panchalee Thakur

Independent Consultant