Aon Leadership Forum Highlights Next Chapter of India's Global Capability Centre Story

HYDERABAD: Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, today released insights from its Global Capability Center (GCC) Leadership Forum 2026 in Hyderabad, India. The forum brought together business leaders and industry stakeholders to discuss the evolving role of India’s GCC ecosystem and the talent, workforce and technology priorities shaping its next phase of growth.Aon speakers included Shikha Gaur, Chief Commercial Officer, Health Solutions, Asia Pacific; Darren Oliver, Head of Market Development, Health Solutions, Asia Pacific; Pratik Kar, National Head of Business Development, Health Solutions, India; and Arun Dias, Head, Global Centres of Excellence, Asia Pacific.

Forum participants discussed how India’s deep talent base, expanding digital capabilities and evolving policy environment position the market for continued capability centre growth. The conversation also explored on the shift towards capability centres as strategic hubs for innovation, analytics and decision making as well as the capabilities organisations need to create sustainable enterprise value. “Capability centres are taking on a more strategic role within global organisations,” said Gaur. “The opportunity is to connect capabilities in innovation, analytics and decision-making more closely to enterprise priorities, strengthening resilience and creating greater value across the business.”

The forum examined several trends influencing capability centre strategies, including:

The importance of AI adoption, AI fluency and workforce transformation in creating enterprise value. Talent retention, employee value propositions and leadership development as organisations compete for specialised skills. The potential for Hyderabad and other emerging hubs to broaden India’s capability centre footprint and support capability development.

he discussion also explored changing workforce expectations and how talent, rewards, health and benefits strategies can support capability centre growth. Participants noted that AI-enabled growth extends beyond technology adoption. Organisations also need to redesign jobs, build skills, strengthen leadership pipelines and create a compelling employee experience. These choices will influence the ability for GCCs to attract specialised talent and expand higher-value work across technology, analytics and business advisory functions.