Published Articles
Published in ET Edge (The Economic Times), this thought leadership article by Saraswathi Ramachandra, MD & Country Head, Lightcast India, examines how Artificial Intelligence is fundamentally reshaping the future of Global Capability Centers (GCCs). She argues that while traditional GCCs were built on talent and labour arbitrage, the next generation will be driven by the combined power of talent and tokens. Introducing concepts such as Intelligence Capital, Intelligence Arbitrage, and the AI Balance Sheet, the article presents a new economic framework for AI-led enterprises. It highlights why future GCC leaders must govern AI agents, models, token consumption, and intelligence assets with the same rigor applied to human and financial capital. The central message is clear: sustainable competitive advantage will belong to organizations that can effectively orchestrate both human talent and AI-powered intelligence.
Published in ET Edge (The Economic Times), this thought leadership article by Saraswathi Ramachandra, MD & Country Head, Lightcast India, explores the next phase of India's Global Capability Center (GCC) evolution. While India's GCC success has traditionally been measured by scale—headcount, investments, and the number of centres—the article argues that the future will be defined by ownership and strategic influence. Introducing the concept of Decision Density, Saraswathi proposes a new way to measure GCC maturity: by the concentration of enterprise-critical decisions, product ownership, innovation, and leadership entrusted to India. She contends that the most successful GCCs will move beyond execution to become enterprise nerve centres, shaping business strategy, driving transformation, and influencing global outcomes. The article concludes that India's next competitive advantage will not be the scale of its workforce, but the scale of its decision-making authority.