Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the processes of doing business. From customer interaction and product design to logistics and analysis of risks, there is hardly any business process that does not use AI. The increased uptake of AI in enterprises raises new concerns associated with transparency, accountability, fairness, privacy, and legal compliance. Whereas the focus of many efforts lies on creation of efficient AI, much less thought is being given to proper governance of AI systems.
This is where Global Capability Centres (GCCs) come into play.
The role of GCCs has significantly changed during the last decade. From centres offering various operational services, GCCs have become strategic centres that drive digital transformation, cybersecurity, innovation, enterprise technology, and analytics projects. Most GCCs are already involved in development, implementation, and monitoring of AI applications at all business levels of multinational companies. Hence, GCCs are in a favourable position to facilitate discussions about governance of AI.
Different from individual departments that have a geographic scope or functional specialization, GCCs work beyond borders of individual markets and regulatory environments, and across different technology platforms. In other words, GCCs’ wide-angle vision of AI governance helps to create consistent governance models to make sure that AI is ethical across organizations. The problem of inconsistent AI regulation and rising stakeholder demands will likely prompt corporations to adopt centralized governance models run by GCCs.
Mr. Alouk Kumar Founder and CEO of Inductus Group stated “For years, GCCs have helped global enterprises drive efficiency and innovation. The next phase of their evolution is even more significant—creating governance frameworks that ensure AI remains transparent, accountable, ethical, and aligned with human values.”
The importance of corporate governance for AI ethics will increase over time. Organizations will be expected to demonstrate how they protect themselves against bias in algorithms, data privacy problems, intellectual property theft, and lack of explanation for AI-based decisions. Countries all around the globe introduce AI-related legal frameworks that regulate companies responsibility to deploy and use AI responsibly. In this situation, firms must have specialized departments that will control AI systems on an ongoing basis.
GCCs have the potential to carry out such responsibilities. With their deep understanding of technology, risk management, regulatory compliance, best practices, and data governance, they have all the competencies needed to develop AI governance capabilities. Similar to the evolution of the cyber defense function into a specialized competence centre, governance of ethics-based AI could be the next big competency to emerge within GCCs.
It could also result in an entirely new set of jobs being developed within GCCs. Corporations will find it increasingly important to hire AI Ethics Officers, Responsible AI Architects, Algorithm Auditors, and Governance Specialists, who can straddle the worlds of technology, business, and regulation. With greater integration of AI into business operations, there will be more demand for such multidisciplinary experts.
India stands out in this regard as well. Already possessing the world’s second-largest GCC landscape, India is positioned as one of the leading global centres of digital transformation and innovation. Its GCCs could go on to become leading centres for responsible AI governance. The GCCs in India can leverage their advantage of having access to world-class technology professionals along with the ability to develop effective processes and work in support of multinational companies in developing standards and guidelines for the deployment of AI across the globe.
In essence, the future of AI is going to depend on not only technology development but also on trust. Companies that are able to show their capability of transparent and accountable behaviour and ethical AI usage would be better at getting their customers’ trust, regulatory approvals, and investment from the market. Becoming strategic partners, not just back-office providers, GCCs may be able to take up the responsibility of ethical innovation and play the role of global hubs for responsible AI governance.