TransUnion’s GCC in India Has Evolved from a Small Pilot to a Strategic Hub of Innovation

TransUnion’s Global Capability Centers (GCCs) in India have evolved from a traditional support function into a strategic enabler of innovation and transformation. Starting with a small pilot team, the GCCs have grown to become an integral part of TransUnion’s global operations, driving efficiency, agility, and customer-centric transformations. By leveraging India’s deep talent pool, digital infrastructure, and favourable business climate, TransUnion’s GCCs have expanded their footprint and capabilities, ensuring sustained long-term growth. Their focus on continuous learning, operational resilience, and technological advancements makes them a cornerstone of the company’s global success. Balaji Narasimhan, Head, GCC India Operations, TransUnion speaks to CIOL. Excerpts. 

How has TransUnion’s GCC in India evolved from being a traditional support function to becoming a strategic enabler of innovation and transformation?

We started as a pilot team of 20 associates, with staff augmented teams assigned to specific projects and operational needs. In a short period of time, we demonstrated the value that the Global Capability Center (GCC) was able to add to the enterprise and worked to establish ourselves as a critical asset in supporting the enterprise, delivering high impact results across most functional areas. We expanded from being purely technology-focused to operations, solutions and more, allowing us to offer more complete capabilities to the organization.

Our GCC in Chennai served as TransUnion’s first center, and its success led to the business expanding its GCC strategy. Today, TransUnion’s GCCs operate as a microcosm of the enterprise with more than 5,000 associates across three continents. In India, we have expanded our presence beyond Chennai, to include Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. Our growth journey has been very exciting with most global functions now embedded in the GCCs and we will continue to play a strategic role, serving as a hub of innovation and transformation.

What specific strategies or initiatives have TransUnion’s GCCs implemented to optimize its global operating model and workforce efficiency?

At TransUnion, we have a global operating model that supports the enhancement and creation of new capabilities, drive new product and service offerings and enable value optimization for the enterprise. TransUnion's GCCs enable the organization with robust scale and scope, improving efficiency and effectiveness while strengthening operational resilience and augmenting our existing services. TransUnion’s distributed network of GCCs allows access to deep talent pools, helping us advance our capabilities and elevate our services to customers and consumers worldwide.

This enables an ‘always-on’ workforce through location advantages and highly skilled talent that provide extended language coverage, business continuity and operational resilience for multiple markets and global functions. Our GCCs play a pivotal role in harmonizing global standardization and enhancing organizational agility.

How does the TransUnion GCCs empower its workforce to deliver agile, customer-centric transformations in a rapidly changing technology landscape?

TransUnion's GCCs focus on enabling efficiency and effectiveness, strengthening operational resilience, and driving innovation and digital transformation, while keeping our customers and consumers at the center of everything we do. The GCCs ensure that global standards are adopted to maintain consistency across operations while responding to local dynamics, regulatory requirements, and evolving customer and consumer needs. This enables us to remain agile, innovative and responsive to the dynamic demands of the global marketplace.

Our customer-centric culture is at the core of our strategy and operations. For us, it is not just about meeting expectations but exceeding them at every touchpoint. The TransUnion belief — I think like a customer — is deeply ingrained in our culture.

Additionally, our agile learning program, TU Connect, grooms’ top-class talent that accelerates the transformation of our business to drive greater global efficiencies. This holistic, experiential and continuous learning program is executed through various initiatives, including, but not limited to AWS GameDays, Google Cloud Hero Challenges, a university graduate program, and a variety of hackathons.

The TransUnion GCC India is a skills-first organization that invests in our people and promote opportunities to learn, build, advance and lead. We are constantly thinking of ways to create a versatile workforce and have several programs that encourage high performing, actively engaged teams that deliver impact and adapt to the ever-changing landscape of business and technology.

What competitive advantages make India a favourable destination for GCCs, and how can these factors be leveraged to sustain long-term growth and innovation?

India’s growing economy, evolving business landscape, strong digital infrastructure, rich pool of top-tier talent, supportive government policies and comprehensive research and development ecosystem create a compelling growth and expansion opportunity for GCCs in India. The focus on GCCs in the 2025 Union Budget, underscores the government’s strategic push to position India as a hub for GCCs. By fostering an enabling environment with incentives for innovation, digital transformation and skill development, India is well positioned to be a prominent player in the GCC space. By strategically leveraging these factors, GCCs in India can ensure sustained, long-term growth.