The arrival of robotics in India is not being heralded by humanoids strolling through office corridors or high-profile innovation showcases. Instead, it is unfolding quietly—embedded in everyday operations, from cafeteria kitchens and utility rooms to facility floors—subtly reshaping how modern workplaces run, often without drawing attention to itself.
The Draft National Strategy for Robotics seeks to position the country as a global robotics leader by 2030, recognising its potential to transform productivity and operations at scale.
Robotics has also been identified as a priority sub-sector under Make in India 2.0, reinforcing its role in strengthening India’s integration into global value chains.
At the same time, global capability centres (GCCs) are undergoing a fundamental transformation. They are increasingly evolving into global hubs for AI, product engineering, cybersecurity and R&D. As the nature of work changes, expectations of workplaces are shifting too. Robotics is emerging as a quiet but powerful enabler of that transition.
“Earlier, everything was functional. Today, it’s about engagement and experience,” said Manish Mamtani, CIO at Compass Group India, which manages food and facilities services across hundreds of GCC campuses.
Compass Group is a world-leading B2B food and support services company. It has built deep traction in India’s GCC ecosystem, partnering with over 120 GCCs across 300 client sites and operating more than 270 dedicated GCC cafés.
This scale has translated into strong momentum, with the corporate segment recording a 51% CAGR between FY22 and FY25. Backed by over 200 curated food programmes tailored to enterprise workplaces, this segment is emerging as a key growth catalyst for the business over the next three to five years.
Why Robotics Found Its Way In
The case for robotics in GCC workplaces is not driven by novelty, but by necessity. Facilities management in India has long been vulnerable to workforce volatility—especially during harvest seasons, festivals or regional disruptions.
“There’s always a 10-15% gap,” Mamtani said. “That’s not something we can control.”
Robotics, however, offers predictability. Over the past year, Compass Group India has deployed 25 to 30 cleaning robots across client sites, with plans to scale this to nearly 250 robots. These machines handle repetitive, time-bound tasks, ensuring service continuity even when manpower availability fluctuates.
“We don’t say, buy a robot. We say, cleaning as a service,” Mamtani explained.
The distinction matters. Robotics is not sold as hardware but delivered as a managed outcome—where uptime, performance and integration into daily operations matter more than the machine itself.
Invisible Tech, Visible Impact
Across most GCC campuses, employees may not even notice robots at work—and that is entirely by design. Robotics is being deployed in ways that minimise disruption while maximising consistency—operating during off-hours, navigating predefined zones and working alongside human staff rather than replacing them.
Behind this seamless experience sits a complex orchestration layer. Compass has developed in-house capabilities to monitor robots remotely, manage maintenance and ensure they integrate smoothly into existing workflows.
The intelligence, Mamtani believes, lies in knowing when machines should take over and when people add more value.
Robotics is just one layer of a broader technology stack that is reshaping GCC workplaces. Sensors across HVAC systems, pumps, generators and utilities continuously feed data into AI models that learn, adapt and automate decisions.
“Just by observing data for six months, we’ve been able to auto-regulate systems and achieve 5-8% energy savings,” Mamtani noted.
These systems adjust comfort levels, energy usage and maintenance schedules without human intervention—creating workplaces that respond intelligently to usage patterns rather than fixed rules.
Over time, this automation reduces operational risk, improves sustainability and frees human teams to focus on higher-value work.
Cafeterias Were the First Signal
Notably, the earliest sign that GCC workplaces needed rethinking did not come from facilities or IT teams—but from cafeterias.
“Our biggest problem is that the café is becoming our choke point,” clients once told Compass, as GCC headcounts ballooned.
Rather than expanding real estate, Compass redesigned food services through digital platforms that optimised ordering, throughput and transparency. That thinking led to the creation of Foodbook, which addressed scale challenges without increasing physical footprint.
“What started as a food solution became an experience platform,” Mamtani said.
That same logic now underpins the adoption of robotics: solve constraints through systems, not space.
As GCC talent has shifted towards AI engineers, product managers and cybersecurity specialists, employee expectations have become more sophisticated. They want personalisation—but not at the cost of privacy.
“How can you anonymise my data but still give me a personalised experience?” Mamtani said, describing a common question from clients.
The answer lies in behavioural intelligence rather than identity-based profiling. Systems learn from usage patterns, what people choose, when they engage and how spaces are used, without collecting sensitive personal data.
This approach aligns with the increasing regulatory and trust expectations placed on GCCs handling global data and intellectual property.
While mega GCCs continue to dominate, Compass is seeing growing demand from smaller, specialised centres—teams of 150–250 people with very specific mandates.
“These nano GCCs have very specific expectations,” Mamtani said.
For them, robotics and automation are not optional add-ons but baseline requirements to operate efficiently with lean teams. Hybrid models—central kitchens, on-site services, automated cleaning and AI-led monitoring—allow these centres to punch above their weight.
Robotics and AI are also subtly shaping workplace wellness. Rather than imposing rigid health programmes, Compass uses data to offer gentle nudges—promoting healthier food choices, improving air quality and optimising comfort.
“We’re not competing with health apps,” Mamtani clarified. “We’re giving the right nudge.”
These interventions are designed to be almost invisible—felt more than noticed.
“What makes robotics in GCC workplaces remarkable is not its visibility, but its restraint. There are no grand announcements, no dramatic workforce disruptions,” Mamtani mentioned.
Instead, robots clean floors, AI tunes energy systems and data quietly optimises experiences—all while employees remain focused on building products, platforms and intellectual property.
India’s GCC story is no longer just about what work gets done here. It is about how intelligently that work is supported.
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