Chief Guest

Smt. Droupadi Murmu Hon'ble President of India

In The August Presence Of

Shri Mohan Charan Majhi Chief Minister Odisha
Dr Mukesh Mahaling Minister, Health and Family welfare, Parliamentary Affairs, Electronics & Information Technology Odisha
Shri Suryabanshi Suraj Minister, Higher Education, Sports & Youth Services, Odia Language Literature & Culture Odisha

All speakers

Kulathumani Karthikeyen

Vice President, States Facilitation & Special Projects

Invest India

Karthikeyen is Vice President at Invest India, where he leads investment facilitation across all States and Union Territories. He also heads several key DPIIT initiatives, including the India Investment Grid (IIG), Project Monitoring Group (PMG), National Single Window System (NSWS), and One District One Product (ODOP).

With over 25 years of experience, Karthik is a seasoned project management professional with expertise in investment facilitation, industry relations, mentoring startups, monitoring & evaluation of large government programs, capacity building and sustainability consulting.

Karthikeyen holds an MBA in International Business and a Bachelor’s degree in Science.

Speaking at

1:45–2:45pmThu 5 FebBlack Swan DebatesCentral HallPremium
Next-Gen Global Capability Centre

Assessing Odisha’s GCC ecosystem: In the age of automation and AI, should we adopt technology-led or talent-led growth strategy to future-proof the GCC ecosystem more effectively?

Black Swan DebatesCentral HallPremium
About this session

As AI and automation reshape the Global Capability Centre (GCC) landscape, Odisha faces a critical strategic choice: should it build its competitive advantage around cutting-edge technology infrastructure and AI capabilities, or invest primarily in developing specialized talent pools that can adapt as technology evolves?
The Technology-Led Case: GCCs will gravitate toward locations with superior digital infrastructure, AI/ML platforms, data centers, and automation-ready facilities. Odisha should become the testbed for next-generation GCC operations focused on analytics and innovation rather than routine tasks.
The Talent-Led Case: Technology commoditizes quickly. What differentiates sustainable GCC ecosystems is specialized talent, particularly in regulated domains (finance, insurance), multilingual capabilities for ASEAN/Japanese markets, and the human judgment and creativity that AI cannot replicate. Odisha should invest in academia-industry partnerships and niche expertise that builds irreplaceable human capital.
This debate brings together GCC leaders, technology providers, policymakers, and talent strategists to examine Odisha's optimal path forward, identifying critical success factors for each strategy, deal-breakers that make either approach unviable, and whether a precisely sequenced hybrid model offers the most realistic route to making Odisha a competitive, future-proofed GCC destination by 2030.

Past Speakers

Kulathumani Karthikeyen

Speaking at

Assessing Odisha’s GCC ecosystem: In the age of automation and AI, should we adopt technology-led or talent-led growth strategy to future-proof the GCC ecosystem more effectively?