How GCCs are Shaping Skilling Priorities in India

Vinay Konanur, Vice President – Emerging Technology, UNext Learning, in an interaction with Janifha Evangeline, Editor, Higher Education Review shared his views on how are Global Capability Centers (GCCs) influencing the demand for advanced technical skills in India, and which skill sets are currently in highest demand, the role GCCs play in fostering collaboration between the private sector, government, and educational institutions to enhance skill development in India and more.

How are Global Capability Centers (GCCs) influencing the demand for advanced technical skills in India, and which skill sets are currently in highest demand?

I observe a strong demand across a wide spectrum of AI and technology skills. Among these, application development continues to hold relevance, and data science - particularly data engineering has emerged as a leading priority.

In fact, the highest demand currently lies in data engineering. If I were to highlight the key areas, data engineering and AI stand out prominently. While application development still has value, its demand has waned compared to these other fields.

What role do GCCs play in fostering collaboration between the private sector, government, and educational institutions to enhance skill development in India?

Like any organization, there’s nothing particularly unusual about this approach. Companies need to explore ways to integrate practical learning into the academic journey. Some GCCs have begun embedding relevant curriculum components as early as the eighth semester, or even earlier - from the second year, around the sixth or seventh semester. While sending subject matter experts to conduct sessions is valuable, it is equally important to enrich the curriculum itself.

Offering electives that incorporate practical, business-related use cases, providing lab environments, and setting up incubation centers within colleges are effective ways to bridge theory and practice. This approach not only enhances student learning but also strengthens the overall ecosystem.

Although there is no guarantee that students will receive preferred placement opportunities in these organizations, the benefits are significant. It helps scale the workforce pipeline, enhances the faculty pool, and allows both students and educators to actively participate in building industry-relevant skills.

How are GCCs helping bridge the skill gap in emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning, and blockchain within India's workforce?

Many GCCs are increasingly providing opportunities for employees to engage in work-integrated programs, including certifications and skill-building initiatives. They are also partnering with organizations like ours to design flagship programs within their organizations. These programs go beyond conventional training; while every training has an outcome, flagship programs aim for a broader impact, benefiting both the business and the individual in strategic ways. This reflects a thoughtful, long-term approach rather than a one-off intervention.

Skill development, particularly in AI and ML, is not instantaneous. Competence cannot be achieved immediately after a single program; it requires a progressive journey. This starts with awareness programs, providing hands-on use cases, and identifying low-hanging fruits within the organization that employees can work on to apply learned concepts.

From there, participants move to intermediate skill levels. For functional roles such as HR, L&D, or Finance and this often involves low-code or no-code AI applications. For technical roles, it involves deeper skills where employees begin implementing AI solutions. Across the spectrum, there are AI enthusiasts, AI implementers, AI developers, and AI professionals focused on go-to-market strategies.

For go-to-market teams, pre-sales professionals must acquire specialized skills: they need to understand the technology roadmap of their organization and act as consultants to clients. In the context of generative AI, this includes designing technology roadmaps and advising clients on adoption strategies.

For leadership, the focus is on identifying the right use cases within the organization. Leaders must understand AI sufficiently to evaluate its potential impact, create frameworks to assess AI maturity, and prioritize projects based on clear metrics. This enables organizations to decide which initiatives to pursue immediately and which to pause.

Across the board, GCCs are actively developing comprehensive programs to build AI capabilities at all levels - from functional teams to leadership - ensuring strategic adoption and measurable impact.

How do GCCs tailor their training and development programs to ensure that Indian workers are equipped with skills that are competitive on a global scale?

In the initial phase, the excitement around AI was palpable. The focus during the first year was primarily on awareness and exploration, with much attention given to prompt engineering. Everyone wanted to understand the basics, experiment, and see what AI could do.

Today, the emphasis has shifted. It’s no longer just about generating emails or spinning up personal projects; the key question is: how can AI create real impact within my work and organization? This shift makes hands-on skilling and engagement with real-world projects crucial for the Indian workforce to become globally competent.

Becoming globally competent requires practical experience. A bottom-up approach, where individuals actively participate in projects helps them develop deep skills far more effectively than a top-down, theoretical approach. Smaller teams, often part of tech communities, are now forming around these initiatives. Within these communities, people experiment with projects, explore protocols, and engage with diverse AI applications, gaining meaningful, practical skills.

This approach, centered on active learning and applied experience, is proving to be highly effective.