What's Behind Hexaware's $120 Million Bet on SMC Squared, CEO R Srikrishna Explains

Hexaware Technologies, newly listed IT services firm, last week acquired the US-based global capability centre (GCC) builder SMC Squared in a $120 million deal. CEO R Srikrishna says the move is aimed at improving the company's India business with the massive expansion potential of the GCC market.

"We have said improving growth in India and the Middle East is important. And India, for us, really kind of strategy one, two, three is GCCs," Srikrishna told Outlook Business.

The number of companies that have their GCC in India has more than doubled from approximately 700 in 2010 to over 1,760 (with more than 3,050 GCC units) in 2024, as per Roedl & Partner. In fiscal year 2024, India's GCCs generated revenue of $65 billion and employed 1.9 million professionals. By FY2030, the GCC landscape is expected to generate $99–105 billion in annual revenue and the number of companies will exceed 2,500.

"This (GCC) is a core strategy for us. I think making an acquisition helps us, gives a leg up. Everybody's making announcements about something in this space. New leader or senior leader. Buying SMC for us is a great way to get at this," Srikrishna added.

Hexaware, which was listed on the stock market earlier this year, is the second-largest mid-tier IT services provider, trailing only Mphasis, according to Motilal Oswal. The company has delivered a 14.0% CAGR during CY20–24. In the first quarter of 2025, the Mumbai-based company reported revenue of $371.5 million, up 12.4% YoY. Hexaware follows a January–December financial year.

According to the brokerage report, over 74% of its business comes from the Americas followed by 20% from Europe and just 6% from India. To expand Indian business and its GCC offering, the company has also launched its GCC 2.0 service line.

SMC Squared will now be part of this offering, and its co-founders, Patricia Connolly and Steven Stephan, will continue to lead the business post-acquisition under Amrinder Singh, President & Head – EMEA & APAC Operations of the company.

"We feel that we can garner a substantial chunk of that market (GCC) and generate some more deals into the future," Singh told us. One way they aim to do this is by targeting centres that have failed to deliver expected value to their parent firms.

By leveraging the leadership experience and the expertise of SMC Squared, they aim to support such underperforming GCCs, he noted. Additionally, their strategy includes optimising existing GCCs by blending human and AI-driven digital labour through platform-based service delivery.

"More than 50% of the GCCs set up in India have fewer than 500 employees. These centres span various functions—not just technology and product engineering, but also traditional back office and mid-office roles. When the talent supply base is that limited, it becomes harder—especially for these smaller GCCs—to differentiate themselves in the Indian talent market. That’s where Hexaware can play a crucial role. Not only can we help improve the quality of available talent, but we also have strong capabilities in skill development, built over years of experience. We believe this positions us well to serve this segment effectively," said Singh.

Packed GCC Field

Hexaware, with its GCC 2.0 and SMC Squared, would join a large pack of legacy service providers who have either added GCC as an offering or are introducing a more robust footing in the segment. In its 2024 annual report, Cognizant flagged the potential risks stemming from GCCs operated by its clients.

But things seem to have taken a 360-degree turn. Infosys launched a dedicated GCC practice in January 2025, appointing Deval Shah to lead it, focusing on transformation deals and BOT models. In May 2025, Wipro announced the formation of a GCC services division, naming Sandeep Dhar as its global head. Around the same time, HCLTech appointed Kiran Cherukuri to scale its captive solutions for over 200 GCC clients. Tech Mahindra brought in Santosh Jha in early 2025 to head its Next-Gen GCC initiative under its Strategic Solutioning & Transformation (SST) programme. Cognizant followed in April 2025 by appointing Sailaja Josyula to lead its GCC service line. While TCS hasn’t officially named a GCC head, it continues to enhance its capabilities in sovereign cloud, AI, and cybersecurity to support global delivery.

Hexaware's GCC USP

As per Hexaware's management and its new member Patricia Connolly, SMC Squared's experience would make them stand out from the pack.

"Probably important for you to know that the journey in building early captive centres started over 20 years ago with Target. My partners and I were involved in that early entry, and that's the beginning of the Genesis story of the whole GCC business construct that we have with SMC. So 20 years ago, we visited India, started that team and fell in love with India. Culture, really great appreciation for the education focus and the global tech strength,” said Connolly.

She, along with Steven Stephan, founded SMC in 2017 in Plano, Texas, with delivery hubs in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The company offered models like Build‑Operate‑Transfer (BOT), GCC‑as‑a‑Service, and Managed GCCs for several Fortune 500 companies.

“When we started the business concept of SMC 10 years ago, we went to Gartner and Gartner wholly endorsed the model that we were coming to market with—that I think is now just strengthened by the Hexaware acquisition," she explained.

"Some examples of companies that we've done business with are Ecolab, TopBuff, and in progress Papa John's, who's now making a big entry into India," the SMC co-founder said, adding that she is looking forward to the next generation of GCCs with Hexaware.

The IT services firm, which is backed by US private equity giant Carlyle, aims to bring its revenue to $3 billion, though it hasn’t provided a timeline.