AMCHAM organized the 4th edition of the GCC Summit on February 7th, 2024 at the Taj MG Road, Bengaluru with the theme ‘Advancing Value Realization from Capability Centres to Innovation Hubs: Gen AI & More.’ Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM welcomed speakers and delegates. She spoke about the great work being done by American GCCs in India and how its positively impacting the entire ecosystem. Mr. Prakash Bodla, Chairman – GCC Committee, AMCHAM and Global Platform Leader for Electronics, Carrier, shared the journey of AMCHAM’s GCC Committee. He talked about the transformative phase of current GCCs in India, their inherent advantage of doing parallel functions and how they are now a microorganism of their parent organization. Dr. Ekroop Caur, IAS, Secretary, Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka, in her inaugural address, spoke about the vibrant GCC landscape in Karnataka. The maximum chunk of American GCCs in India are in Bengaluru. She enumerated four main reasons for the success of GCCs in Karnataka: availability of vibrant and ever-expanding talent pool, cutting edge technology, thriving start-up ecosystem and innovation. She highlighted the importance of bridging the skill gap. Dr. Caur shared an optimistic view of the future of GCCs in India and believes that they will be one of the biggest contributors in making India the third largest economy in the world. It was followed by an MoU signing between the Government of Karnataka and AMCHAM to deepen the existing engagement by identifying and addressing common challenges, as well as fostering collaborations to support innovation and drive the IT, BT, and ESDM ecosystem forward.

Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, CEO, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) gave a comprehensive presentation on ‘Emerging Tech Clusters Fueling the GCC Growth Story in India: Beyond Bengaluru – a Success Case Study.’ His presentation showcased the potential of going beyond Bengaluru, execution strategy, location advantage, ecosystem, policy incentives and talent pool. Ms. Shalini Pillay, India Leader – GCCs, KPMG India gave an insightful presentation on ‘Setting the Context: GCCs in India’ which covered industry trends, examples of what GCCs are working on to move up the maturity scale in each dimension and top trends that are shaping the way forward hence touching upon – tech disruption and GenAI, talent risks, operating model imperatives, etc.

The first panel discussion on ‘Unveiling the Evolution – From Back-Office Capability Centers to Global Innovation Hubs’ focussed on the journey of GCCs in India from back-office centres to centres of excellence. The panel speakers Mr. Ranvijay Lamba, Managing Director & Country Head, Arcesium, Ms. Aparna Rao, India Lead, Cargill Business Services and Mr. Veera Babu, MCR – Managing Director, India – Tenant Representation Cushman & Wakefield shared their perspectives around the same. Mr. Sunil Venkatesh, Partner – Technology Consulting, EY India was the moderator.

It was followed by a presentation by Mr. Srikumar Ramanathan, Chief Solutions Officer, Mphasis on AI Shaping Biz Ops. His presentation covered drivers of change and changing tech consumption trends. He also explained the migration of value from a labour arbitrage era to a tech arbitrage era.

The next panel ‘Enabling Comprehensive GCC Ecosystem in India: Looking Beyond Metros’ featured Mr. Chaitanya Sreenivas, Vice President Human Resources – Strategic Initiatives, Aptiv, Mr. Keerthi Kumar, Partner, GCC Advisory, Deloitte Consulting and Mr. Praveen Vasudeva, Director Global Real Estate, Asia Pacific & Japan, IBM was moderated by Ms. Ramita Arora, Managing Director – Bengaluru, Head – Flex, Cushman & Wakefield. The panel discussed major factors considered by multinationals while choosing to expand into Tier II cities, talent gap between Tier I and Tier II cities, policy interventions required and infrastructural needs for setting up GCCs in Tier II cities.

The panel ‘AI Horizons: Navigating the Future’ talked about emerging technologies having the potential to revolutionize the way we live, work and interact with the world around us.  GCCs are at the forefront of adopting and implementing NextGen technologies.  The panellists were Mr. Gaurav Mathur, Chief Operating Officer, Areteans, Mr. Biju Mathews, Head – Mphasis NEXT Labs and Mr. Amit Vaid, Vice President-II, Applied Science & Artificial Intelligence, State Street, moderated by Mr. Prasad Kurup, Vice President & Senior Partner, Asia-Pacific: Data & Technology Transformation, IBM Consulting.

In ‘Think Global, Act Local: Preparing GCCs for Global Leadership’ Mr. Prakash Bodla, Chairman – GCC Committee, AMCHAM and Global Platform Leader for Electronics, Carrier, Dr. Kiranmai Dutt Pendyala, Chairperson – HR Committee, AMCHAM and Corporate Vice President, Human Resources, UPS Global Technology Center, India and Ms. Oindrila Majumdar, Executive Vice President & Chief Executive Officer, TIAA Global Capabilities Pvt. Ltd. with Mr. Snehil Gambhir, Partner and Director, BCG as the moderator discussed the prospect of putting India’s leadership on the global stage and challenges associated with it. It is important to identify hidden gems within the existing talent pool, design L&D programs that truly empower, and cultivate the global mindsets needed to conquer the world stage.

This was followed by an engaging fireside chat between Dr. Ekroop Caur, IAS, Secretary, Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka and Mr. Chaitanya Sarawate, National Executive Board Member, AMCHAM and President & CEO, GE Healthcare, South Asia & Managing Director, Wipro GE Healthcare. They discussed the primacy of Karnataka vs other competing states in the context of GCCs, how is the government partnering with GCCs to address talent gaps in Karnataka, specific initiatives taken to attract establishments of GCCs and MNCs to tier II and III cities like Mysuru, Mangalore, Hubli, policy interventions and incentives to attract start-ups beyond Bengaluru and encourage them to create solutions for challenges in smaller cities, towns and villages and development in the healthcare sector.

Given the focus on ESG as a global priority, the panel on ‘Role of GCCs in the Global Sustainability Agenda’ talked about the role of GCCs in addressing the global / corporate goals, challenges in this path of ESG implementation and methods to transform ESG in GCCs. The panel featured speakers Ms. Kavita Mehra, Senior Director, General Management, India COE, Dell Technologies, Ms. Priti Parekh, Partner & Executive Director, IBM Consulting and Ms. Namrata Rana, Partner and National Head of ESG, KPMG in India as the moderator.

Ms. Hemalatha Shankar, CBS TGRC Lead, Global VGO Lead, Cargill, Mr. Vivek Sundar, Director – International Business, Citi India and Mr. Vijay Kumar, Director of Information Security Compliance, GRC Transformation & India Security Lead, VMware at the session on ‘Fortifying Digital Fortresses: Advances in Data Governance and Security’ discussed the importance of responsible data practices and deep dived into concepts of data governance framework, organizations leveraging emerging technologies and enterprise data governance. The panel was moderated by Mr. Murali Rao, Cybersecurity Consulting Leader, EY India.

The event concluded with a vote of thanks and concluding remarks by Mr. Santosh Kulkarni, Co-Chairman – GCC Committee, AMCHAM and Managing Partner & Global Leader – Global Transformation Centers Business Unit, IBM. More than 150 members attended. The event was supported by KPMG, Cargill, Cushman & Wakefield, IBM, Mphasis, Arcesium, Areteans, Carrier and TIAA Global Capabilities.

The event was followed be a networking dinner reception hosted by the Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Biotechnology, and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka at JW Marriott, Bengaluru. Government officials at the dinner included: Dr. Ekroop Caur, IAS, Secretary to the Government, Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Biotechnology, and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka, Dr. S Selvakumar, Principal Secretary, Commerce & Industry Department, Government of Karnataka, Ms. Ruchi Bindal, IAS, Deputy Secretary, Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Biotechnology, and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka, Ms. Parnika Pavanram, KAS, General Manager – Biotechnology and EDSM Policy, Karnataka Innovation & Technology Society, Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Biotechnology, and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka, Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, CEO, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) and Mr. Gaurav Punjabi, GM – Events and Marketing, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM).  AMCHAM members interacted with the officials regarding various pertinent topics relating to collaboration and innovation in the areas of technology and business.