The SPEED Model in Action: Building Product and Experience Excellence in India’s GCCs
India’s Global Capability Centers (GCCs) are undergoing a profound transformation. Once seen as cost-effective engineering outposts, they are now emerging as holistic product and innovation centers, driving global business impact for their parent organizations. At the heart of this evolution is the SPEED collaboration model—Strategy, Product, Experience, Engineering, and Data & AI—a unique framework pioneered by Publicis Sapient to unlock the full potential of India’s talent and innovation ecosystem.
From Engineering Hubs to Innovation Powerhouses
The traditional GCC model in India was built on operational efficiency and cost arbitrage. However, as digital disruption accelerates and the need for rapid innovation grows, leading organizations are reimagining their Indian GCCs as strategic partners—integral to global product development, customer experience, and business growth. This shift is driven by a new mindset: GCCs are no longer offshore support centers, but peer hubs empowered to drive strategic initiatives, share the same goals and vision as their global counterparts, and deliver differentiated value through innovation.
The SPEED Model: A Blueprint for Holistic Transformation
The SPEED model brings together five critical capabilities:
- Strategy: Developing clear business objectives and roadmaps to address complex challenges.
- Product: Building outcome-oriented solutions with a product mindset, not just delivering features.
- Experience: Crafting frictionless, human-centered journeys through design thinking and customer empathy.
- Engineering: Delivering performant, scalable, and efficient applications that bring product visions to life.
- Data & AI: Embedding data-driven decision-making and AI-powered feedback loops for continuous improvement.
By integrating these disciplines, the SPEED model enables GCCs to move beyond functional silos and foster true cross-functional collaboration. This approach ensures that every product or platform is conceived, designed, engineered, and continuously improved with the end customer—and measurable business outcomes—in mind.
Best Practices for SPEED-Driven GCC Transformation
1. Collaborative Synergy and Product Mindset
While many GCCs have adopted Agile methodologies, the most successful centers distinguish themselves by embedding a product mindset and a culture of data-driven decision-making. This means:
- Structuring teams as autonomous, cross-functional squads with clear ownership and accountability.
- Focusing on business outcomes and customer value, not just delivery velocity.
- Using frameworks like Scaled Agile (SAFe) but refining them to prioritize impact and ROI.
2. Precision in Problem Formulation
A hallmark of the SPEED model is the ability to break down complex challenges into clear, actionable problem statements. Strategy, Product, and Experience teams work together to:
- Deeply understand customer needs and market trends.
- Formulate specific, measurable problems that guide engineering and data teams.
- Ensure that solutions are not just technically sound, but truly resonate with users and drive business results.
3. Industry Knowledge and Context
Domain expertise is a key differentiator. GCCs that leverage deep industry knowledge—whether in financial services, retail, healthcare, or energy—are better positioned to anticipate market shifts and develop products that exceed expectations. Integrating subject matter experts and fostering continuous learning are essential to staying ahead.
4. Metrics-Driven Culture and Continuous Improvement
Data is the backbone of the SPEED model. Leading GCCs:
- Embrace a metrics-driven culture, using data to inform decisions and measure impact.
- Create virtuous feedback loops where product performance against business KPIs drives ongoing refinement.
- Foster a culture of experimentation, where teams are encouraged to try, fail, learn, and iterate rapidly.
5. Talent Strategies for World-Class Product Teams
India’s talent ecosystem is a unique advantage, but building world-class product teams requires deliberate strategies:
- Nurturing Future Leaders: Partnering with top business schools and universities to access fresh, strategic thinkers.
- Global Exposure: Providing opportunities for global job rotations and leadership programs to broaden perspectives.
- Diversity and Inclusion: Building teams with diverse backgrounds and expertise to fuel innovation.
- Startup Engagement: Collaborating with India’s vibrant startup ecosystem to infuse entrepreneurial spirit and cutting-edge skills.
- Continuous Learning: Investing in upskilling, especially in AI, cloud, and digital product management.
Real-World Impact: SPEED in Action
Publicis Sapient’s SPEED model has enabled Indian GCCs to deliver measurable business impact across industries:
- Retail: AI-powered platforms developed in India have optimized global supply chains and personalized customer experiences, driving higher engagement and conversion.
- Financial Services: Digital products conceived, designed, and engineered in India are improving advisor productivity and client satisfaction worldwide.
- Healthcare and Energy: Data-driven solutions are addressing sustainability and access challenges at scale, from automating energy grids to connecting healthcare professionals with those in need.
These are not isolated successes—they represent a new standard for what India’s GCCs can achieve when empowered as strategic partners.
Accelerating Time-to-Market and Business Impact
The SPEED model accelerates time-to-market by:
- Reducing handoffs and silos through integrated, cross-functional teams.
- Enabling rapid prototyping, testing, and scaling of new solutions.
- Embedding data and AI from the outset, ensuring products are continuously optimized for business outcomes.
This approach not only delivers faster results but also ensures that innovation is sustainable, scalable, and aligned with global business objectives.
The Road Ahead: Orchestrating the Future of Innovation
As the digital business era accelerates, the most valuable GCCs will be those that can orchestrate cross-functional teams, lead the adoption of AI and emerging technologies, and drive customer-centric innovation at scale. The SPEED model provides a practical, actionable framework for GCC leaders, product owners, and transformation executives to:
- Move beyond cost and skills arbitrage to true innovation leadership.
- Build and retain world-class product talent in India.
- Deliver measurable business impact and shape the future of global business from India to the world.
Ready to unlock the full potential of your GCC in India? Connect with Publicis Sapient to learn how the SPEED model can help you transform your center into an engine of product and experience excellence.