Working out the cost of setting up a global capability centre (GCC) in India once meant months of consulting work and a hefty bill. Now, advisory firms are putting out the rough math within reach often in minutes or latest within a week, at times for free, as a fast-growing market draws more mid-sized companies looking to set up shop in the country.

Global giants such JPMorgan, Bank of America, Walmart and Airbus have already set up tech centres in the country, which collectively employ more than 100,000 people.

Real estate group Embassy's Embark, its end to-end consulting firm for GCCs, is the latest to come up with a calculator that generates a cost model covering compensation, benefits, real estate, technology, infrastructure, compliance and one-time set-up costs. The calculator also details the likely cost-savings, along with comparisons of what a similar set-up would cost in the company’s home market.

“The market is expanding beyond large enterprises to mid-market companies evaluating India as a strategic destination. However, credible cost data has traditionally been accessible only through consultant-led engagements, making it difficult for early-stage decision-makers to build a business case," said Aravind Maiya, co-founder and chief executive officer of Embark. "The calculator addresses this gap by replacing lengthy, consultant-led cost discovery with an instant, self-serve assessment.”

According to an expert, this quick estimate simplifies the process for mid-market companies in setting-up shop in India by avoiding lengthy and costly consulting processes.

“This was a costly venture. Now, AI models are shrinking the time taken for this entire process from a year to a few weeks,” said Achyuta Ghosh, executive research leader for GCCs at HFS Research.

The calculators of Bengaluru-based NeoIntelli and Noida-based ScaleGCC have similar features. While NeoIntelli’s cost calculator gives yearly cost comparisons and return on investment, ScaleGCC’s return calculator gives separate costs for functions including information technology (IT) management, human resources, and legal compliances.

This, however, does not quite deliver at one click. Interested companies have to log in and provide a point of contact to unlock detailed cost estimates and function-wise break-ups. A representative from the advisory firm then reaches out to discuss the prospect of setting up a GCC in India. The cost calculator engagement could eventually help GCC consultancy firms expand their client base.

The offering is likely to eat into the revenue of large consulting firms, industry experts said. “These calculators cannibalize traditional consulting revenue, where earlier, large companies would deploy headcount and spend considerable money to figure out the operating model and location of the GCC for their clients,” said Ghosh of HFS.

“While this may not impact smaller boutique GCC advisory and set-up firms, the Big Four consulting firms—Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG—and large GCC wings of Indian IT are expected to face a challenge because of these calculators because they deploy a considerable number of people and costs into this,” he said.

New York-based Aokah is offering demos of its cost calculators to companies. According to its website, it offers risk assessments, along with AI-generated hiring forecasts, based on tech knowledge and availability in each shortlisted city.

The outcomes look promising. “At one Fortune 500 chemical manufacturer, the head of GBS (global business solutions) used Aokah Explorer during site selection to stress-test locations and weightings in real time, clearing the CFO’s scrutiny on costs and choices. He compressed initial location shortlisting from 10 weeks of consultant output to less than a week using real-time information,” said HFS Research analysts Paras Chugh, Achyuta Ghosh, and David Cushman, in a paper dated 22 May.

Delivering a quick cost estimate is, however, only one part of the challenge.

These cost calculators would more useful if they were to chalk out an operating model for the company looking to set up a tech centre, said a second expert.

“Getting the cost cut-up for setting up a GCC is not a big deal. These calculators would do well if they helped firms in understanding a business model based on their needs: whether they want to cut costs or whether they want to innovate and spend in R&D more," said Kaushik Srinivasan, managing partner of KAN, a Hyderabad-based GCC advisory firm. "Getting that clarity and choosing locations based on that is more helpful than just a blanket cost estimate.”