New ISG research finds organizations plan to leverage AI, upskill staffing to achieve greater innovation, value from their GCCs

New survey research from global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III) finds the majority of enterprises plan to leverage AI in their global capability centers (GCCs) so those centers can take on higher-value work.

The newly released ISG Market Lens™ 2025 Global Capability Centers Study finds GCC staffing is shifting away from primarily labor arbitrage to also deliver higher-skilled work and expertise that drives greater innovation and productivity. Respondents said overall staffing levels will remain largely unchanged, but the mix of skills will focus more on AI and data analytics abilities, rather than on manual and administrative tasks that can be automated.

“The adoption of generative AI and the increasing interest in GCCs have been the two biggest trends in the IT and business services industry over the past several years,” said Alex Bakker, ISG distinguished analyst and co-author of the study. “Organizations are investing in GCCs to reduce costs and access skilled talent that can drive innovation. They see AI as a way to automate both complicated and basic tasks so they can get more output and ROI out of their GCCs.”

Thirty-nine percent of study respondents said they expect to see more AI and machine learning skills in their organization’s capability centers, along with data science and analytics (23 percent) and cloud and IT infrastructure (15 percent). Study respondents expect to see declines in manual tasks (22 percent), business process support (19 percent) and project management and administration (15 percent) in their GCCs.

Even centers with moderate AI investments expect to bring on more AI skills over the coming two years to reduce headcount elsewhere.

Fifty percent of enterprises will expand the services portfolio for their GCCs over the next two years and are accelerating investments in AI to support an expected 10 percent expansion in work throughput. The typical investment is approximately $1 million for 2025, with around 20 percent of GCCs investing $5 million or more. Much of the current investment is focused on AI pilot projects and data preparation for AI implementation. 

Forty-one percent of respondents said data quality is their top challenge in adopting GenAI in the global capability center, followed by demonstrating a return on investment (36 percent), business integration challenges (36 percent), organizational change management (34 percent) and talent availability (32 percent).

“As AI adoption matures, organizations are recognizing that AI tools built around specific business, domain or process information have a greater impact than off-the-shelf tools,” said Michael Dornan, principal analyst and co-author of the study. “For GCCs to successfully drive value from AI—and for businesses to achieve the high risk/high return innovations they want to drive through their GCCs—they need to improve the quality of their data and the processes that maintain it.”

The ISG study, conducted globally in February 2025, surveyed 200 executives in G2000 enterprises in the Americas and Europe with decision making responsibility for IT spending in their organization.

ISG Market Lens™ buyer behavior studies combine findings from surveys of senior-level global executives with expert ISG research and analysis on market trends and strategic business initiatives. Recent studies explored IT budgets and spending, GenAI, mainframes, AI, cloud, application development and maintenance, BPO and sustainability.

Contact ISG for more information on ISG Market Lens research.

About ISG

ISG (Nasdaq: III) is a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm. A trusted partner to more than 900 clients, including 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is a long-time leader in technology and business services that is now at the forefront of leveraging AI to help organizations achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm, founded in 2006, is known for its proprietary market data, in-depth knowledge of provider ecosystems, and the expertise of its 1,600 professionals worldwide working together to help clients maximize the value of their technology investments.

Press Contacts: Will Thoretz, ISG +1 203 517 3119 will.thoretz@isg-one.com

Julianna Sheridan, Matter Communications for ISG +1 978 518 4520 isg@matternow.com

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