The GCC lifecycle

A GCC is a procurement cascade.

"We'll put 1,000 people in Hyderabad" sounds like a hiring plan. It actually sets off 60 distinct purchases over the next two to three years: entity, lease, fit-out, payroll, laptops, security, transport, training, then automation, AI and process transition. The order matters, and buying late costs more.

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Seven stages, from decision to global owner

T0 is the day the centre opens. Selling, or buying, after the inauguration is often too late.

  1. T-12 to T-6 months

    India decision made

    HQ commits to an India centre and starts comparing cities, structures and costs.

    Location intelligenceState incentivesEntity and tax structureLeadership search

    How we help: Launch intelligence, Incentive capture

  2. T-9 to T-3

    Site selected

    City and site are chosen; lease or flex space is signed and the build-out starts.

    Lease or flex officeLegalFit-outNetworkFacilities

    How we help: Vendor OS, Launch intelligence, Incentive capture

  3. T-6 to T0

    First leaders arrive

    The GCC head, HR, finance and technology leads join and start building the organisation.

    RecruitmentPayroll and benefitsBackground verificationHR techIdentity and SaaS

    How we help: Vendor OS, Engineering platform, Security & AI governance

  4. T-3 to T+6

    50 → 500 people

    The first hiring waves land. Everything must work on each joiner’s first day.

    Laptops and MDMSaaS licencesSecurity launch packageCloud landing zoneL&DTransport

    How we help: Engineering platform, Security & AI governance, Specialist pods, Vendor OS

  5. T+6 to T+18

    500 → 2,000 people

    Scarce skills become the bottleneck and HQ starts expecting automation and platforms.

    Specialised recruitmentAutomationData platformsSOCDevSecOps

    How we help: Specialist pods, AI transformation, Engineering platform, Security & AI governance

  6. T+12 to T+36

    Global mandates arrive

    India starts owning products, AI, functions and processes for the whole enterprise.

    AI transformationProduct engineeringProcess migrationR&DGovernance

    How we help: AI transformation, Process transition, Security & AI governance

  7. Mature

    Global owner

    The centre runs global functions and looks for its next source of advantage.

    TransformationInnovationStartup sourcingSpecialist consulting

    How we help: AI transformation, Process transition, Vendor OS

The full demand map

60 purchases across 34 categories. We deliver 35 of them directly; the rest we orchestrate through vetted partners in the GCC Demand Network.

CategoryPurchaseWhenBuyerFulfilled by
Location intelligence City / location decision model T-12..T-6 HQ sponsor Scutiger
Second-city / satellite centre evaluation T+12..T+36 GCC head Scutiger
Government incentives State incentive eligibility and quantification T-12..T-3 CFO Vetted partner
Incentive filing and claim management T0..T+24 CFO Vetted partner
Entity and tax Entity setup, FEMA, GST and transfer pricing T-9..T-3 CFO Vetted partner
Intercompany service agreements and TP documentation T-6..T+3 Legal Vetted partner
GCC leadership GCC leadership search (GCC head, CTO, CISO, HR, controller) T-9..T0 HQ sponsor Vetted partner
Volume hiring Volume hiring / RPO T-3..T+12 Head of Talent Vetted partner
Scarce hiring First AI platform team (scarce talent) T+0..T+18 CTO Scutiger
IAM/PAM and cloud-security engineering team T+0..T+18 CISO Scutiger
Data-platform pod T+3..T+18 Chief Data Officer Scutiger
Contractor capacity Short-duration contractor capacity T+0..T+12 CTO Scutiger
Compensation intelligence Compensation intelligence by role and city T-6..T+6 CHRO Vetted partner
Employer branding Employer branding for an unknown foreign brand T-3..T+12 Head of Talent Vetted partner
University partnerships Campus and university partnerships T+6..T+24 Head of Talent Vetted partner
Office Office search, flex space and lease T-9..T-3 CFO Vetted partner
Fit-out Fit-out, AV and networking T-6..T0 Facilities Vetted partner
Facilities Facilities, access control, food and housekeeping T-3..T+6 Facilities Vetted partner
Transport Employee transport T+0..T+12 Facilities Vetted partner
Benefits and payroll Payroll, PF, benefits and health insurance T-3..T0 CHRO Vetted partner
Employee BGV Background verification at volume T-3..T+12 Head of Talent Vetted partner
Relocation Relocation and mobility T-3..T+12 CHRO Vetted partner
HR tech HRIS, onboarding and HR tech stack T-3..T+3 CHRO Vetted partner
AI automation HR policy and onboarding agents T+3..T+18 CHRO Scutiger
Autonomous L1/L2 IT helpdesk T+6..T+24 CIO Scutiger
Security alert triage and investigation agents T+12..T+36 CISO Scutiger
AI process discovery + PoC T+6..T+24 COO Scutiger
Finance ops automation (reconciliation, reporting, invoice exceptions) T+6..T+36 CFO Scutiger
Procurement automation (supplier onboarding, contract extraction, RFPs) T+12..T+36 Procurement Scutiger
Coding agents, testing and incident triage T+6..T+24 CTO Scutiger
Customer ops agent-assist, QA and conversation analysis T+6..T+24 COO Scutiger
Risk: controls testing and evidence collection agents T+12..T+36 COO Scutiger
Contract review and obligation extraction T+12..T+36 Legal Scutiger
Metadata generation and pipeline debugging agents T+12..T+36 Chief Data Officer Scutiger
Employee IT Laptops, MDM and endpoint T-3..T+6 CIO Vetted partner
Identity, SSO and SaaS licensing T-3..T+3 CIO Scutiger
Office network, SD-WAN and connectivity T-6..T0 CIO Vetted partner
Cloud Cloud landing zone, accounts and IAM T-3..T+6 CTO Scutiger
Cloud FinOps T+6..T+24 CTO Scutiger
Developer platform Developer platform: CI/CD, observability, golden paths T+0..T+18 CTO Scutiger
Data engineering Warehouse / lakehouse, MDM and analytics platform T+6..T+24 Chief Data Officer Scutiger
ML platform and MLOps T+12..T+36 Head of AI Scutiger
Cybersecurity GCC security launch package (zero trust, DLP, endpoint) T-3..T+6 CISO Scutiger
IAM / PAM programme T+0..T+12 CISO Scutiger
SOC / MDR coverage T+0..T+12 CISO Vetted partner
Compliance ISO 27001 / SOC 2 / PCI evidence automation T+3..T+18 CISO Scutiger
DPDP Act and data-transfer compliance T-3..T+12 Legal Vetted partner
AI governance Enterprise AI control plane (model access, evals, audit trails) T+6..T+24 Head of AI Scutiger
Model evaluation and guardrails programme T+12..T+36 Head of AI Scutiger
Process transition Process transition from HQ / vendors to India T+6..T+36 COO Scutiger
Insourcing work from IT services vendors T+12..T+36 CIO Scutiger
Knowledge capture Agent-assisted knowledge capture from departing teams T+6..T+24 COO Scutiger
Vendor procurement Managed vendor layer (discover, bid, diligence, contract, monitor) T-3..T+24 Procurement Vetted partner
Training GCC academy: new technology and domain capabilities T+3..T+24 Head of Talent Vetted partner
AI upskilling for engineering and operations T+6..T+24 Head of AI Scutiger
Startup scouting Startup scouting and PoC sourcing T+24.. Innovation head Vetted partner
Patent / IP Patent and IP workflow for R&D centres T+12.. Legal Vetted partner
GCC launch intelligence 24-month GCC launch plan and readiness review T-12..T0 GCC head Scutiger
Transformation AI-first GCC operating model design T-6..T+12 GCC head Scutiger
Global mandate transformation programme T+24.. GCC head Scutiger

The lifecycle in brief

What does a new GCC need to buy in its first two years?

Typically 20–30 procurement categories: location and incentive advice, entity and tax, leadership search, office and fit-out, recruitment and RPO, payroll and benefits, background verification, laptops and identity, cloud landing zones, security and SOC, transport, training, and later data platforms, automation, AI governance and process transition.

When should a GCC start buying?

Six to twelve months before launch. Location, incentives, entity and leadership decisions happen between T-12 and T-3; the first hiring wave needs laptops, identity, security and payroll in place before day one. Many of the highest-value choices are gone by the inauguration.

Who buys what in a GCC?

The HQ sponsor and CFO own location, entity and incentives; the GCC head and HR leader own leadership and hiring; the CIO, CTO and CISO own the technology and security stack; procurement and facilities own the workplace; and the COO owns transitions and automation as global mandates arrive.

Where is your centre in the cascade?

In a 30-minute readiness review, we'll place your centre on this map and list what's likely to land on your desk in the next two quarters.

Book a readiness review Build the map yourself

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