CoEs allow companies to make in-house technological advances, innovatively use them while simultaneously creating intellectual property (IP) that gives them an advantage over their competitors. They focus on emerging technologies and aim to find their most stable iteration that is scalable and easy to use. A great example of a CoE in India is the one set up by a computer hardware company that focuses on advances and applications of automation processes in verticals such as banking, insurance, and healthcare. Another multi-national company has dedicated resources to focus on AI, cybersecurity, automation, blockchain, AR and VR.
While CoEs have their advantages, if start-ups and academia have already made technological and intellectual advances in a particular field, collaborating with them may be a company’s best course of action. Collaborations between GCCs and start-ups in the realms of emerging technologies can be beneficial for both sides involved. Start-ups may benefit from early and more likely success, widespread application of their innovations, internationalization, increased revenue and market visibility. GCCs can benefit from the access to start-ups' expertise, accelerated innovation, increased focus on customers, staying ahead of competitors and generating new revenue streams. GCCs can implement collaboration models such as innovation labs, start-up incubators, hackathons and funding start-ups. In the automation vertical, a significant player has collaborated with start-ups. These collaborations have led to product development, access to new markets for the GCC, and technological innovations. In the IT vertical, a networking hardware company has collaborated with start-ups that focus on technologies such as IoT, AR, VR and Blockchain. The GCC benefitted through improvements in the portfolio of applications that it offered.
Collaborations between GCCs and academia, much like collaborations between GCCs and start-ups, can increase innovation while benefitting all entities involved. GCCs get access to the research, theories and intellect of academics. Meanwhile, academia benefit through research funding, endowment and increased prominence of their achievements. At times, academic institutions internally promote the study of emerging technologies such as AI and ML. Such initiatives give them a head start over GCCs who may not be in the process of studying and developing the same technologies. Collaboration may be more prudent for GCCs in such situations. An information technology and outsourcing company has partnered with a leading Indian engineering institution in the fields of data science and AI. The company established a faculty fellow position in AI and Data Science. In exchange, it gained access to expertise in those technologies. Another Indian IT MNC has started a joint research program with an Israeli educational institution with the aim of making advancements in Artificial Intelligence.
The evolution of GCCs into innovation hubs that house experts in emerging technologies, collaborate with start-ups and academia is a significant departure from their initial functions. Not only is it prudent to take advantage of low wages, the abundance of educated and skilled people and a thriving start-up landscape, but it is also necessary. Not being innovative and expanding into external ecosystems would be a waste of a GCCs' potentials and could lead to companies' losing out to more ambitious, creative and innovative competitors.
