Fourthwards 2025

Highlights

Fourthwards by Galent

Redefining GCC Value in the AI Era

In 2025, Galent launched Fourthwards, a premier thought-leadership roundtable series devoted to exploring how AI is reshaping Global Capability Centers (GCCs) and enterprise operating models. 

The inaugural Fourthwards convened a distinguished assembly of global enterprise leaders – senior executives responsible for AI strategy, governance, data, and transformation – for candid, closed-door dialogue on what it truly takes to move AI from pilot initiatives to enterprise infrastructure. 

Highlights

As AI matured beyond experimentation, organizations required frameworks for execution – not just ideation. Fourthwards emerged to meet that need, grounding conversations in real enterprise challenges: 

  • How can GCCs transcend efficiencies and become engines of strategic innovation?
  • What does responsible and governed AI adoption look like at scale? 
  • How should enterprise operating models evolve in an AI-native world?  

The series was structured to foster peer-level exchange, collective foresight, and practical frameworks for action. 

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Curated GCC leaders

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Employees represented

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Fortune 200 enterprises

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Fortune 500 enterprises

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Strategic sessions in Hyderabad & Bangalore

Featured Leadership Voices 

The Fourthwards roundtables brought together seasoned thinkers and doers in enterprise technology and AI leadership: 

Ashwin Bharath

CEO

Francisco D’Souza

Co-Founder & former CEO, Cognizant

Sumeet Chabria

 CEO, ThoughtLinks; former Global COO/CIO, Bank of America & HSBC

Key Themes & Takeaways

GCCs as Strategic Hubs: Leaders emphasized GCCs’ evolution from cost centers to strategic enablers of enterprise innovation. 

Institutional AI Leadership: AI success requires governance, ethical frameworks, and continuous reskilling – not isolated projects. 

Value Realization Over Tool Adoption: True AI value emerges from measurable business impact, not feature checklists. 

Reinvention Over Re-engineering: Incremental modernization is insufficient. Enterprises must reshape operating models around intelligence. 

Evolving Organizational Models: Software and engineering practices are becoming core to strategic execution. 

These insights were foundational in shaping the Fourthwards philosophy – that enterprise AI must be grounded in execution discipline, governance, and institutional frameworks. 

Voices from the Roundtables 

“What we witnessed was a remarkable convergence of ideas and strategies. Leaders are leveraging AI to transform operations and drive strategic differentiation.”

Sumeet Chabria, CEO, ThoughtLinks; Former Global COO/CIO, Bank of America & HSBC

“Generative AI and Agentic AI are opening newpossibilities but success will come to those who can operationalize with governance and context.”


Ashwin Bharath,
CEO, Galent

“Indian GCCs are not just adapting to AI – they are actively driving innovation and creating new paradigms of value creation on a global scale.”



Sriram Rajagopal, Founder, Galent

Fourthwards Report: AI & the Future of GCCs 

As part of the 2025 series, Galent published the Fourthwards Report: AI & the Future of GCCs – Navigating the GenAI Landscape – a definitive guide on how AI models, talent evolution, regulatory shifts, and operational frameworks come together to power the next generation of enterprise intelligence. 

This report distilled the collective insight of sessions and is a reference point for leaders shaping AI-native execution. 

Download the Report

Looking Ahead 

Fourthwards returns in 2026 to deepen that dialogue, expand leadership exchange, and provide practical frameworks for enterprise adoption at scale. 

Stay tuned for updates on Fourthwards 2.0 – where decisive leadership and AI-native execution converge.