How IT services veterans are able to spearhead leadership and growth
As India’s information technology services sector faces turbulence and as more MNCs in-source tech operations, the top-level at India’s marquee IT services rms is seeing new avenues open up; GCCs give them global standing and come with a 20%-25% pay premium making them a top pick
Chief HR ocers, senior vice presidents, engineering heads, India MDs — these are all a few key GCC leadership roles being occupied by IT service top heads it a top pick.
When a $25 billion U.S. healthcare enterprise was looking to set up its Global Capability Centre (GCC) in India recently, it roped in a senior IT services leader with 30plus years of healthcare expertise to spearhead it. The leader not just helped set up the India unit and de ne the processes but also brought along a team of senior delivery talent to help in the execution. Another media conglomerate that recently set up its GCC in Chennai also tapped an IT services veteran with decades of experience in the media and technology space to lead the India centre.
Chief HR o¤cers, senior vice presidents, engineering heads, India MDs — these are all a few key GCC leadership roles being occupied by IT service top heads as they look for their next challenge.
Increased churn
As the Indian IT service sector faces turbulent times and as more multinationals in-source technology operations, the top-level at India’s marque IT services rms is seeing increased churn. Leaders with decades of experience in delivering client projects are choosing to build technology solutions from scratch at GCCs opened by such clients.
GCCs in India started as back-o¤ce operations but today these captive centres of MNCs hold ownership of global products. End-toend business services across nance, HR, operations, technology and other functions happen out of India with leaders here having more autonomy.
Executive search rms and IT industry trackers told businessline the IT services churn was at its peak in 2021 and 2022 and while it moderated since then, Csuite is always on the look out for greener pastures. GCCs give them global standing and come with a 20-25% pay premium making
Senior talent moves
As per data from specialist sta¤ng rm ◣pheno, the IT services sector has more than 1,02,000 active professionals in senior suites roles such as C◣Os, Directors, VPs/AVPs etc. and more than 11,000 of these people have switched jobs in the last two years. While a majority of this movement was within IT Services,
about 10% have gone to GCCs, ◣pheno’s data shows. Software, banking, and healthcare GCCs have been most successful in attracting the senior talent.
“For GCCs, specialist IT services leaders ensure quick turnarounds and deployment windows. For the talent, there is an advantage of working directly with international brands, and getting onto long-term strategic pathways for leadership positions,” Siddharth Verma, business head, ◣pheno Executive Search, said.
Gaurav Dev Burman, senior client partner and coleader of the technology practice, at executive search rm Korn Ferry India, says GCCs are keeping their vertical extremely busy in recent years as movement from services to India captive units of MNCs is more prevalent. “It’s not just IT services but also consulting (Big 4) leaders who are looking at GCCs as attractive career options. 30-35% of our technology vertical revenue comes from GCC mandates.”
At executive search organisation Transearch too, a majority of the services hiring mandates are from GCCs looking to sta roles such as country leads, engineering heads, and technology heads among others. “These are typically small and mid-sized GCCs in pharma, engineering research and development (ER&D) and retail. They look for senior leaders with capabilities in delivering niche services such as analytics and AI and sector specialists,” Meenakshi Thakar, partner, Transearch India, says.
‘Inch-wide, mile deep’
Balasubramanian Sankaranarayanan, CEO of healthcare GCC Thryve Digital that has o¤ces in Chennai and Bengaluru, took up the role after a 25plus years of experience in the IT services world. “GCCs o er an inch-wide and mile-deep look into the sector. This is a complete reversal of the IT services world and this is what attracted me,” he says. “For an IT services leader with relevant domain expertise, GCCs are a chance to set up something from scratch and gain global exposure while doing so,” he adds.
Perhaps the best example of this is Gangapriya Chakraverti, the India head and MD at Ford’s 25-year old GCC in India — Ford Business Solutions. The 12,000-plus strong GCC unit in Chennai takes care of software engineering, data analytics, arti cial intelligence, machine learning,
nance and other functions for the larger group and is headed by Ms. Chakraverti, who joined Ford as director of human resources in 2012. She came to Ford after spending over a decade at HR consulting
rm Mercer and is now a global leader at Ford’s largest centre outside the US.
“The rst wave of senior leaders from large IT services companies migrated to mid-tier IT companies. The leaders had a large fan base so much so talent at multiple levels followed them,” Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, partner of tech advisory rm Catalincs, says. “Today, we are seeing next wave of senior leaders going to GCCs of all sizes.”
With industry estimates pointing to a GCC rally in India in the coming years and with IT services battling poor demand, the ‘great resignation era’ will likely continue at the tech C-suites.
(The writer is with The Hindu businessline)