The global capability center (GCC) market is projected to exceed $27.5 billion in the next five years. This explosive growth reflects a profound transformation in how life sciences organizations manage their business. GCCs have evolved from being mere cost-saving hubs to strategic powerhouses that drive innovation, enhance operational efficiency and unlock new avenues for growth. As life sciences companies expand their global reach, GCCs are positioned as key enablers of long-term business success, helping organizations scale efficiently and stay competitive in a rapidly changing landscape.

Putting the technology in place to support global operations is pivotal to enabling these transformations. Companies that strive to scale up the functionality of their GCCs need a robust digital core to centralize and standardize commercial operations globally, adapting to local markets while maintaining a cohesive global strategy. Platforms provide such a solution by acting as a Swiss Army Knife for the organization to do everything from streamlining call planning to optimizing incentive compensation—all while providing the analytics that supports the informed decision-making necessary to navigate complex market dynamics.

The power of the global technology platform is that it gives organizations all the tools to manage, measure and optimize every aspect of their commercial ecosystem in one place. We believe that platform technology can turbocharge GCCs into key business functions for life sciences by supporting commercial needs. And organizations looking to pursue this aim should take into account which attributes are necessary in a platform to achieve their ambitious objectives.

The right commercial tech platform to support a life sciences GCC must be flexible, scalable and able to integrate with existing systems seamlessly. A modular platform design that supports both global and regional needs is essential for optimizing resources, ensuring compliance and enabling agile decision-making. Here are five attributes that a commercial tech platform broadly needs to have to help your GCC realize its greater goals in the organization.

1. AI and analytics integration

To support commercial needs, a commercial tech platform should be powered by AI and advanced analytical capabilities. It should enable life sciences companies to make data-driven decisions through predictive modeling and scenario planning. By analyzing customer segmentation, targeting and activity planning data, AI can help to optimize sales territories, improve field strategies and track performance in real time. For instance, AI-based suggestions can help make proactive, faster and better territory alignment decisions to maximize coverage and customer-facing time. Integrated AI-powered conversational assistants should generate concise insights, enable intelligent conversation and take action quickly from the underlying data across alignment, roster and customer assignments.

Additionally, automated “what-if” scenarios help predict the impact of potential changes before implementing them, ensuring that decisions are backed by data and aligned with business objectives. AI models also personalize customer engagement, recommending actions based on healthcare provider’s activity and market shifts, boosting customer relationships and improving sales outcomes.

2. Scalability

To adapt to the evolving needs of life sciences organizations quickly, a robust commercial tech platform should be modular and scalable. The platform should support self-service capabilities, empowering administrators with tools to configure business rules, workflows and reporting metrics. An intuitive, guided workflow experience is essential, reducing operational friction and ensuring smooth scaling across regions. This flexibility enables teams to address both global standards and specific regional requirements, such as unique sales territories or market structures.

Additionally, life sciences organizations operate in a complex ecosystem with multiple data sources and systems, making seamless integration critical. The platform should offer prebuilt connectors and flexible API mechanisms for integration with industry-standard systems (like Veeva, Workday, AWS and Snowflake). This unified data layer improves data quality, enhances decision-making and reduces silos. By integrating different tools, the platform ensures that teams have access to accurate, real-time information.

A platform should be built on a robust cloud architecture (such as AWS), enabling dynamic scaling as business needs grow. This ensures that data storage, processing and user access remain consistent and efficient, even as organizational demands evolve. The cloud-based design also supports data residency requirements and enables secure, global access to platform features.

3. Compliance

Given the stringent regulatory landscape, especially in the life sciences industry, ensuring compliance through automated reporting, data management and auditing is essential. The platform should be a “system of record” that facilitates real-time regulatory compliance for incentive compensation, sales activities and customer interactions, minimizing the risk of noncompliance. Additionally, robust security features such as data encryption, access controls and regular audits are necessary to safeguard sensitive data and meet evolving compliance standards (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA).

4. Global harmonization

Life sciences organizations often face fragmented data and practices across global markets. Harmonizing commercial operations across diverse global markets while maintaining regional flexibility is a frequent challenge. A comprehensive harmonization strategy should include assessing existing processes, identifying best practices and developing standardized frameworks. Balancing standardization (80%) with local customization (20%) allows organizations to enhance operational efficiency while remaining responsive to local market needs. Establishing a common working model that includes guidelines for data management, reporting and compliance can help ensure consistency and quality across regions.

A successful commercial tech platform will seamlessly integrate and harmonize all aspects of commercial operations, from alignment and roster management to call planning, incentive compensation, customer engagement and analytics. It should offer out-of-the-box automation for key functions like local planning, vacancy management and omnichannel engagement. With unified, real-time insights across modules, the platform can ensure a harmonized and dynamic approach to commercial execution.

5. Implementation and continuous improvement

Choosing the optimal delivery model is crucial. Whether it’s an organic setup, a build-operate-transfer model or a hybrid approach, the selected model should align with the organization’s unique needs, scalability goals and available resources. Factors such as speed to market, flexibility and the right balance of internal and external expertise should be considered. For instance, a build-operate-transfer model allows for the initial development of operations internally, followed by a transfer of control once established, while a hybrid model blends in-house capabilities with external resources to share responsibility and expertise. Clearly documenting the rationale for the chosen model ensures transparency, sets expectations and fosters stakeholder alignment and support.

Embedding continuous improvement into a platform’s design is necessary so that it can evolve with the life sciences industry’s changing landscape. It must be flexible enough to incorporate emerging technologies like AI and generative AI, while also supporting advanced features such as continuous timelines, local healthcare markets and complex hierarchy visualizations for deeper data analysis and better field operations management. A strong platform partner will maintain an innovation roadmap, ensuring regular updates that not only enhance foundational capabilities but also improve user experience through smart AI-driven suggestions, integrated workflows and advanced query resolution. By embracing these advancements, the platform will stay aligned with industry trends, providing a future-proof solution that drives operational efficiency and user satisfaction.

Organizations must invest in comprehensive training, certification and upskilling programs to ensure that users can leverage the platform’s full capabilities. A technology partner should offer ongoing support, including a dedicated client success manager and premium helpdesk services, to resolve issues promptly and ensure smooth platform operation. Furthermore, regular process and architectural audits by platform experts help identify areas for system optimization and process improvement over time.

Partnering with the right company can mitigate risks, ensure business continuity and create tailored, scalable solutions that evolve with the organization. Partnering with the right tool and implementing that into an organization’s workflow can be invaluable to realizing operational excellence. ZS’s platform, ZAIDYN^®, supports GCCs across many stages of development, and that ability to meet GCCs where they are allows the platform to be a trusted partner on the journey toward greater sophistication and business impact.

For early-stage GCCs, for instance, ZAIDYN offers self-serve capabilities that streamline processes and reduce expenses, enabling organizations to adopt new operational models and achieve cost optimization. ZS’s advisory services and dedicated customer success managers ensure smooth onboarding and in-house expertise development.

Emerging GCCs benefit from ZAIDYN’s ability to harmonize processes, technology and people. This integration positions them to evolve into Centers of Excellence for sales operations and digital transformation, building core competencies that drive sustained growth.

Mature GCCs leverage ZAIDYN’s next-gen AI capabilities to accelerate innovation, refine commercial models and enhance customer engagement. These advanced features help mature GCCs stay competitive and continuously improve their operations.

Life sciences’ strategic integration of GCCs, coupled with an innovative commercial tech platform like ZAIDYN, are reshaping the landscape of commercial operations. The shift from traditional cost-saving models to dynamic, value-driven ecosystems underscores a critical realization: Modern GCCs are not merely operational hubs. They are vital partners in driving innovation, enhancing efficiency and fostering growth. Companies should prioritize building a digitally literate workforce, streamlining processes and selecting scalable, secure platforms to realize their objectives.

As we look to the future, the life sciences industry stands at a pivotal juncture. The landscape is shifting toward greater reliance on data-driven decision-making, with agility and resilience becoming paramount. The organizations that successfully navigate this transformation will be those that recognize the importance of holistic strategies—ones that integrate technology, people and processes seamlessly.

The journey of transformation is not just about implementing new technologies; it is about forging a legacy of excellence and commitment to continuous evolution. By fostering collaboration, nurturing talent and embracing innovation, life sciences organizations can position themselves to not only meet the challenges of today but also seize the opportunities of tomorrow.