Why GCCs, AI and India's Office Market Have My Attention

Most people look at real estate and see buildings.

I increasingly look at real estate and see economic behaviour.

The most interesting real estate stories are rarely about construction, architecture or even property prices. They are usually about larger shifts happening beneath the surface—changes in technology, capital, talent and human behaviour that eventually reshape entire markets.

That is why I have been paying close attention to three themes:

Global Capability Centres (GCCs).

Artificial Intelligence.

The future of offices.

At first glance, they may seem unrelated.

They are not.

The Office Was Supposed To Die

Over the last few years, the office has been declared obsolete more times than I can count.

Remote work was going to empty office towers.

Hybrid work was going to permanently reduce demand.

Artificial Intelligence was expected to eliminate large portions of knowledge work, an anxiety I unpacked in why humans remain irreplaceable.

Yet when we look at what is actually happening, the story is far more complex.

India's office market continues to expand.

Global corporations continue to invest.

New office districts continue to emerge.

Flexible workspaces continue to grow.

The office survived.

But it is changing.

GCCs Are Quietly Reshaping India

One of the most important business stories in India today is the rise of Global Capability Centres.

These are no longer back-office support operations.

Many of today's GCCs are responsible for engineering, artificial intelligence, product development, analytics, cybersecurity and strategic decision-making for global organisations, much of it powered by the kind of autonomous agentic AI systems now entering the mainstream.

They are becoming centres of innovation rather than centres of cost arbitrage.

That distinction matters.

Because innovation-driven organisations create a different type of demand.

They attract specialised talent.

They seek high-quality infrastructure.

They influence urban development.

And they often become anchors for broader economic ecosystems, contributing to India's USD 1 trillion software leap.

The impact extends far beyond office leasing.

AI Changes The Question

Much of the discussion around AI focuses on replacement.

Will jobs disappear?

Will companies need fewer employees?

Will office demand fall?

Perhaps.

But I suspect the more important question is different.

What if AI changes the nature of work more than it changes the quantity of work?

As routine tasks become automated, organisations may place greater emphasis on creativity, collaboration, learning and problem-solving-themes I explore in the AI revolution and its business impacts.

Those activities often benefit from physical interaction.

In that world, the office becomes less about attendance and more about purpose.

Fewer rows of desks.

More environments designed for collaboration.

Less focus on occupancy.

More focus on outcomes.

Why This Matters

The future of India's office market will not be determined by a single trend.

It will emerge from the interaction of many forces:

Technology.

Talent.

Capital - reflected in how VCs are betting big on Indian AI startups.

Infrastructure, with global players like Databricks making strategic India investments.

Workplace strategy.

Urban development.

Each influences the others.

This is what makes the topic fascinating.

The office market is no longer just a real estate story.

It is becoming a lens through which we can observe how India's economy is evolving, evident in rising Indian tech startup funding.

The Bigger Picture

As I continue building Ghar.tv and The India Property Festival, I find myself increasingly interested in these intersections.

Not because they sit within traditional real estate.

But because they sit beyond it.

The most valuable opportunities often emerge where industries overlap.

Real estate and technology.

Capital and infrastructure.

Media and community.

Physical spaces and digital transformation, the same convergence driving India's broader tech leap forward.

The next decade will create new winners, new cities and new business models.

Understanding where those shifts are happening and why - may be one of the most important forms of intelligence available today.

And that is why GCCs, AI and the future of offices have my attention.

Because I don't think they are simply changing where people work.

I think they are helping shape where the economy itself is headed.