AI reshapes India’s advertising GCC boom as global networks scale operations

India’s advertising Global Capability Centre (GCC) ecosystem is entering a new phase as multinational agency networks expand AI, analytics and specialised operations across the country, betting on India as both a growth market and a long-term operational hub.What started largely as a cost and execution play is increasingly evolving into a broader strategy around automation, data, AI-led marketing and integrated global delivery.Companies including WPP, Omnicom Group, dentsu, Interpublic Group and Havas have all expanded their India capability operations over the past two years, adding teams across AI-led media planning, martech, analytics, automation and performance marketing.The shift is becoming visible in hiring patterns as well.According to data from jobs platform foundit, AI-linked roles accounted for 44% of jobs across India’s media and communication GCCs in 2025, up from 21% a year earlier. Demand has risen for AI campaign optimisation specialists, marketing data scientists, AI-powered performance marketing strategists and generative AI creative technologists.At the same time, traditional operational roles such as campaign reporting, media trafficking and low-complexity execution support are seeing slower hiring as automation takes over repetitive workflows across media and advertising operations.Also read: The AI takeover of advertising: Inside the new holding company playbookIndustry executives say the transition reflects a larger restructuring underway across global advertising companies as clients demand faster campaign delivery, real-time optimisation and more integrated data-led marketing systems.Omnicom Group, which recently expanded its India operations following the integration of Interpublic Group capabilities, now has more than 7,000 employees across media, technology, healthcare and marketing operations in the country.Vishal Srivastava, CEO of Omnicom Global Solutions India, recently said the role of GCCs is evolving beyond traditional support functions.“The conversation is no longer just about cost or efficiency. The new currency is value,” he said, adding that India teams are now involved in building global platforms, workflows and AI-driven systems for clients.The broader GCC economy in India has also emerged as one of the country’s fastest-growing white-collar employment engines. India currently hosts more than 1,700 GCCs employing close to two million professionals across sectors including technology, finance, healthcare and retail.Advertising remains a relatively smaller part of the overall GCC market, but investments from global agency networks have accelerated as the industry restructures around AI, automation and data-led operations.WPP has expanded its India Global Delivery Centre to more than 10,000 professionals, supporting global clients across media activation, analytics, performance marketing and technology services. dentsu has also expanded AI and innovation-focused operations in Bengaluru and Mumbai.More recently, Havas said it is building global centres of excellence and specialised operational hubs from India as part of its long-term growth strategy.In a recent interview, Rana Barua, Group CEO, India, SEA and North Asia at Havas, said the company is expanding specialised teams across production, health, UX/UI and design functions in India. The network has already set up a production hub in Chennai and is evaluating further expansion across specialised capabilities and influencer-led ecosystems.Also read: Influencer marketing: How ad holding companies are building creator empiresBarua said India’s appeal goes beyond cost efficiency and is increasingly tied to the depth of talent and the ability to scale global operations from the country.The GCC model itself is also beginning to evolve beyond large, centralised operations.Earlier this month, Wondrlab Network announced a $100 million investment in Bridgesoul and launched WondrBridge, a platform focused on building AI-led micro and nano GCCs for enterprises across India, Europe, the US and the ANZ region.Unlike traditional large-scale outsourcing centres, the venture is aimed at helping companies build smaller, specialised teams across AI, engineering, cloud infrastructure and digital operations through ownership-led models. The platform will operate through joint venture and build-operate-transfer structures, allowing enterprises to build embedded teams while retaining control over intellectual property and long-term strategy.Executives at Wondrlab said the model reflects a broader shift underway across enterprises globally, where companies are increasingly looking to move away from traditional outsourcing structures toward high-context operational hubs built around AI, automation and integrated decision-making systems.The company said the centres would be designed to help enterprises deploy teams within four to eight weeks, with India serving as the primary engineering and scale hub.The broader shift toward AI-led advertising infrastructure is also becoming visible across the adtech ecosystem.Earlier this month, Affle reported nearly 20% annual revenue growth, driven by rising demand for AI-powered, performance-led mobile advertising solutions across India and international markets.The company said advertisers were increasingly shifting budgets toward measurable, AI-assisted marketing platforms, while also expanding internal AI-agent capabilities aimed at improving campaign efficiency, automation and consumer targeting.The growing focus on India also comes at a time when several global advertising markets are facing slower growth and macroeconomic uncertainty.In its latest quarterly earnings, dentsu flagged weakness across parts of the APAC region, including Australia, China and Singapore, while India continued to deliver organic growth and remained a relative bright spot for the company.WPP has also identified India as one of its stronger-performing markets amid broader regional uncertainty. During its first-quarter 2026 earnings commentary, the company pointed to “pockets of growth” in India even as several global advertising markets continued to face pressure from slowing client spending and macroeconomic volatility.WPP also highlighted India in its client retention strategy, underscoring the market’s growing importance within the network’s broader restructuring and growth plans.The operational changes underway inside global agency networks are also being shaped by AI-led automation in media buying itself. During a recent earnings discussion, Omnicom Group said it was increasingly investing in AI-driven and “agent-to-agent” media systems aimed at reducing manual workflows, improving productivity and enabling more automated campaign execution.Executives indicated that such systems could significantly alter how media planning, optimisation and buying functions are structured across global advertising networks in the coming years.Recruiters and agency executives say demand for AI, analytics and martech talent has intensified across Bengaluru, Gurugram, Hyderabad and Pune, with companies competing aggressively for professionals across automation, data science and performance marketing functions.For global holding companies facing slowing growth across parts of the US and Europe, India is increasingly becoming both a growth market and an operational backbone.