AI’s Role in Elevating GCCs’ Value, challenges, and opportunities in second-generation AI discussed
Fourthwards Report: AI & the Future of GCCs – Navigating the GenAI Landscape, launched
Galent, an AI-native engineering firm, hosted the inaugural in-person edition of Fourthwards Roundtable series held in Hyderabad and Bangalore recently. The premium flagship programme brought together top industry leaders to shape AI-driven transformation in India’s Global Capability Centres (GCC) landscape.
Ashwin Bharath (CEO, Galent) moderates the Fourthwards roundtable with Francisco DSouza (Co-founder & Former CEO, Cognizant) and Sumeet Chabria (CEO, Thoughtlinks)
A total of 60 GCC leaders managing over 500K employees across 12+ Fortune 200 and 25+ Fortune 500 companies, across all major industry domains were part of the gathering.
Francisco D’Souza, Co-founder & former CEO, Cognizant, Sumeet Chabria, CEO of ThoughtLinks, and ex-Global COO/CIO of Bank of America and HSBC, and Ashwin Bharath, CEO, Galent and Executive Chairman, Revature led the conservations.
Fourthwards by Galent fosters cross-industry collaboration to help leaders navigate AI’s impact on global services, workforce transformation, and evolving service models. The discussions reinforced India’s leadership in AI-powered enterprise innovation and emphasized the need for collective action to unlock AI’s full potential. Held under Chatham House Rules, the discussions encouraged open conversations on AI’s opportunities and challenges.
The event highlights included a Fireside chat, moderated by Ashwin Bharath which explored AI’s role in reshaping GCC strategies to drive global innovation and value creation, a roundtable discussion led by Francisco D’Souza and Sumeet Chabria, facilitating candid conversations on AI strategy alignment, Generative AI differentiation, and scaling challenges. The series threw light on AI’s defining role in GCC evolution, showcasing how Indian GCCs are not just adapting to AI but actively driving innovation and creating new paradigms of value creation in the global services ecosystem.
The series highlighted how GCCs are evolving beyond service centres into core enablers of enterprise strategy and the advantage of having a unique ecosystem with top talent, reskilling capabilities and a collaborative environment not easily replicated at enterprise headquarters. The other takeaways included responsible AI adoption and how AI must drive business outcomes.
Sharing his thoughts, Sumeet Chabria, CEO of ThoughtLinks, and ex-Global COO/CIO of Bank of America and HSBC said, “What we witnessed was a remarkable convergence of ideas and strategies. The participating GCC leaders demonstrated how they’re leveraging AI to transform their operations from traditional service delivery centers to strategic innovation hubs.”
Ashwin Bharat, CEO of Galent, launched the Fourthwards Report: AI & the Future of GCCs – Navigating the GenAI Landscape, a definitive guide for industry leaders to understand and leverage Second Generation AI and said, “At Galent, we believe Generative AI & Agentic AI will open far more doors than they will close. However, true success requires GCCs and enterprises to work as one. AI adoption is moving at unprecedented speed, and when the shift happens, GCCs must lead the charge-not play catch-up.”
About Fourthwards by Galent
Fourthwards is Galent’s premier thought leadership series dedicated to AI’s role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It features exclusive roundtables and culminates in annual reports offering actionable insights on AI, regulatory landscapes, and workforce evolution.
About Galent
Galent is an AI-native digital engineering firm delivering enterprise-ready AI solutions. With a mission to help organizations lead in an AI-driven world, Galent provides cutting-edge platforms and strategies for digital transformation.
Learn more at www.galent.com.
