Editorial illustration for Malahar's Expert Touch: Building Global Capability Centers for Top Firms
Malahar's GCC Success: Tech Center Transformation Expert
Malahar’s Proven GCC-Building Record Includes Ecolab, PFS, and others
In the crowded landscape of India’s tech leadership, a few names stand apart, not for their titles, but for what they’ve actually built. Malahar is one of them. He has done more than just manage Global Capability Centers; he has created them from scratch, scaled them with precision, and turned them into engines of digital transformation.
Ecolab’s digital innovation center in India? That was his. PFS?
His handprint is there too. Each project reads like a case study in high-performance team building, strategic vision, and the kind of entrepreneurial grit that comes from founding and scaling a startup. This isn’t a career built on incremental moves.
It’s a record of deliberate, bold architecture, one that positions Malahar as a tech and business leader who doesn’t just follow playbooks, but writes them.
Malahar has a strong track record of building and scaling Global Capability Center (GCCs) for various organizations, including Ecolab, PFS, and others. His experience in establishing and scaling Ecolab's digital innovation center in India is a testament of his ability to build high-performing teams from the ground up. Malahar's entrepreneurial experience, founding and scaling a startup, demonstrates his self-reliance and innovation.
His strategic leadership in driving digital transformation and enhancing Global Business Services, resulting in significant business impact, marks him as a promising tech and business leader in India. Praveen Mysore, Vice President at lululemon, has been leading lululemon's Global Product Technology and India Technology Hub. Rooted in cultural humility and guided by compassion and empathy, Praveen adeptly navigates complex business environments to drive results by simplifying strategies, building high-performing teams, and aligning technology solutions with strategic objectives.
He played a crucial role in establishing lululemon's Global Capability Center in Bangalore, successfully building teams from scratch, fostering a robust company culture, and enabling extensive global delivery capabilities. Under his stewardship, pivotal initiatives in product creation, merchandise planning, and enterprise data management have significantly contributed to lululemon's growth. Previously, as Program Leader at Target, Praveen oversaw the EMV implementation, showcasing his expertise in managing complex technology transformations.
His experience includes large-scale package and SAP implementations, ensuring seamless integration across multiple systems and functions. Praveen's work has spanned delivering innovative technology solutions across diverse retail business domains. He practices inclusive leadership and resilient team design which are key ingredients that make outperformance possible, repeatable, and sustainable.
Dedicated to enhancing organisational capabilities, Praveen champions initiatives that build high-performing teams, boost operational efficiency, and establish global delivery models, consistently ensuring sustainable value for the organisations he serves.
Malahar and Praveen represent two sides of the same coin: the architect and the operator. One builds from scratch, the other scales with empathy. Their stories converge on a single truth: GCCs don’t thrive on strategy alone.
They demand leaders who can hire the first ten people, then trust them to hire the next hundred. Leaders who treat culture not as a poster on the wall, but as the scaffolding for global delivery. Ecolab’s innovation center, lululemon’s Bangalore hub, these are not just real estate wins.
They are proof that the most durable capability centers are built by people who understand that technology is only as strong as the teams behind it. And in a market crowded with talent, that distinction matters. The next wave of GCC leadership will belong to those who blend ambition with humility, and replace complexity with clarity.
Malahar and Praveen have already shown the way.
Common Questions Answered
How does Malahar approach building Global Capability Centers (GCCs) for organizations?
Malahar focuses on creating comprehensive ecosystems of talent rather than simply hiring individuals. His approach involves strategic leadership, digital transformation expertise, and leveraging his entrepreneurial background to build high-performing teams from the ground up, as demonstrated by his work with companies like Ecolab and PFS.
What makes Malahar's experience in establishing technology centers unique?
Malahar's unique strength lies in his combination of strategic vision and hands-on execution, stemming from his startup founding experience. His track record includes successfully scaling Ecolab's digital innovation center in India, showcasing his ability to transform potential into high-performing technological teams.
What key skills does Malahar bring to Global Capability Center development?
Malahar brings a rare blend of entrepreneurial self-reliance, strategic leadership, and digital transformation expertise to GCC development. His experience includes founding and scaling a startup, which provides him with innovative insights into building and scaling technology centers for multinational corporations.
Further Reading
- Malahar Pinnelli – ET Edge GCC Summit 2025 Speaker Profile — ET Edge (The Economic Times)
- 5 Shifts Defining India’s Global Capability Centers (GCCs) Story in 2025 — Zinnov
- Top 9 GCC Expansions in India in 2025: India Strengthens its Role as the Global GCC Powerhouse — GCCRise
- Global Capabilities Centres 2025: Catalysts of India’s Innovation-Led Healthcare Evolution — OPPI India
- Rethinking the Future of Global Capability Centers in NCR 2025 — Dun & Bradstreet India