A new wave of service-delivery model disruption has arrived with the prominence of a global network of digital hubs.

Kearney’s Global Services Location Index (GSLI) has identified three major evolutions in tech service-delivery models over the past three decades. First came “offshoring.” Then there was “outsourcing.” More recently, automation gave rise to “no-shoring.”

Now a fourth wave is upon us. Even as automation has transformed service operations, human capability has remained a central factor. Increasingly, the presence of concentrated, digital-savvy talent is a key differentiator between nations, regions, and cities vying for consideration as business-service locations.

Such “digital hubs” are changing the way global corporations source their rapidly growing tech-service needs. These nodes of highly skilled digital practitioners are increasingly serving as “one-stop shops”—and proximity to them is becoming a crucial factor for companies seeking to keep up with ever-accelerating change.

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