India’s GCCs: From Cost Centers to Strategic Innovation Hubs, But Are We Ready for M&A?

Over the past two decades, Global Capability Centers (GCCs) in India have evolved remarkably. From their origins as offshore cost centers focused on back-office operations and IT support, they have grown into strategic hubs of innovation, engineering excellence, and digital transformation. Today, these centers are delivering cutting-edge R&D, designing global products, and contributing meaningfully to core business outcomes.

But as Indian GCCs take on a more central role in the global enterprise, a crucial capability gap has emerged, the ability to meaningfully participate in and lead the R&D dimensions of mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

I had the privilege of being part of a core team that built a GCC from the ground up for a leading multinational. Our mandate was clear: this wouldn’t just be a support center it would be an advanced R&D and engineering hub that drives innovation. Over time, we matured the center into a globally integrated capability unit.

Then I moved into a global M&A role and that’s when a crucial realization struck me:

While we had established strong R&D execution capabilities in India, we weren’t prepared to support or lead the R&D aspects of M&A although these deals are increasingly influencing our engineering roadmap.

M&A is increasingly a cornerstone of corporate strategy, particularly in technology-intensive industries. Whether acquiring startups for innovation, integrating adjacent product lines, or consolidating technology platforms, companies rely on M&A to shape their future. Yet, while India’s GCCs excel at execution and delivery, most are not prepared to contribute to the strategic aspects of these transformative deals.

This is a missed opportunity and a risk.

The M&A Blind Spot in India-Based GCCs

Many Indian GCCs have invested deeply in technical excellence, Agile practices, and innovation accelerators. However, their focus has remained largely on product development and operational efficiency. As a result, they are often excluded from early M&A conversations, particularly those involving technical due diligence, integration planning, or synergy realization, even in the context of Research and Development (R&D)

Why does this happen? The root causes are simple, yet significant:

1. Lack of M&A literacy among R&D leaders
2. Senior engineers and architects typically lack exposure to the deal lifecycle, R&D in the context of M&A, especially the technical evaluation of products, IP assessments, or architectural compatibility studies.
3. Limited visibility into the corporate M&A pipeline
4. GCC teams are rarely looped in during the exploration or negotiation phase, leaving them unprepared for post-deal integration.
5. Absence of structured post-merger integration (PMI) capabilities
6. Even when involved, most centers don’t have formal processes or cross-functional teams ready to support or lead functional integration within R&D functions.

This gap isn’t just academic. It creates a bottleneck during M&A execution, slows down value capture, and reinforces a perception that GCCs are not ready for strategic responsibilities.

Why M&A Readiness Is Now Business-Critical

In the era of digital convergence, M&A is no longer just a finance or strategy function it’s a technology and engineering function too.

Consider this: when a company acquires a SaaS startup, the deal’s success often depends on how quickly and seamlessly its products, platforms, and teams can be integrated into the acquirer’s ecosystem. This requires deep collaboration across engineering, product management, IT, and operations.

India-based GCCs, if equipped with the right capabilities, can be ideal partners in this integration journey. Their scale, technical expertise, and growing product ownership make them uniquely positioned to help deliver post-deal value.

But only if they are brought in early, and only if they are ready with M&A skills.

The Case for Building M&A Capabilities in GCCs

To bridge this gap, GCC leaders must rethink their operating model and invest in new capabilities. This isn’t about turning every engineer into a dealmaker, but about creating awareness, readiness, and alignment with global corporate development functions.

Here’s what needs to change:

Embed M&A Thinking in R&D Leadership

Train senior engineers, product owners, and architects in the basics of M&A, particularly around technical due diligence, code base assessments, product road mapping, and architectural integration. This builds fluency in the language of M&A and prepares them for strategic conversations.

Ensure Early Visibility into Deals

Create formal mechanisms for the GCC to be informed about potential acquisitions, even in early stages. This allows teams to anticipate integration challenges, align resources, and start preparing for post-deal work.

Establish a Cross-Functional PMI Team

Build a small, dedicated group within the GCC that includes R&D, IT, HR, and Finance functions. This team should own the integration playbooks, coordinate local activities post-close, and liaise with global integration teams.

Foster Relationships with Corporate M&A and Global R&D Leaders

GCC heads should actively build relationships with global counterparts in M&A, product, and technology. Trust and credibility must be earned before a deal lands, not after.

Document and Institutionalize Learnings

Every deal provides valuable lessons. Capture integration challenges, best practices, and tooling approaches. Over time, this can evolve into a living playbook that accelerates future integrations.

A Strategic Imperative for the Next-Gen GCC

India’s GCCs are at an inflection point. The journey from cost center to innovation hub is well underway, but the next leap requires stepping into the strategic core of the business. That means owning not just delivery, but also the transformation of the enterprise itself.

M&A is one of the most powerful levers for business transformation. And if GCCs want a seat at that table, they must be prepared to contribute—not reactively, but strategically.

The next generation of GCCs in India will not be measured solely by the quality of code they write or the features they deliver. They’ll be measured by the strategic problems they help solve—and how well they contribute to long-term value creation.

M&A capabilities, once considered peripheral, are now essential. The future-ready GCC is not just a builder of technology but a steward of business transformation.

The Journey Into Industry

Dharmendra Singh, Chief Executive Officer at MergerWare, a US-based M&A software firm, has held leadership roles in building a globally integrated R&D GCC in India and later served in a global M&A role, driving cross-functional integrations across technology and product organizations. This unique vantage point informs a practical and strategic perspective on the urgent need to build M&A capabilities in India’s next-gen GCCs.