Thursday, March 19, 2026: Main Program

Launching a Shared Services or GBS organization comes with many unknowns—especially in the first 12–18 months. Without mature internal metrics or historic baselines, leaders often struggle to define success, report progress, and justify investments. Dive into a strategic roadmap to help new or early-stage SSOs define performance targets, identify relevant benchmarks, and create alignment across business units.

• Set realistic benchmarks for cost-to-serve, process cycle times, automation rates, and customer satisfaction—tailored to the maturity level of your organization.
• Establish first-year KPIs for P2P, O2C, R2R, Procurement, HR, and IT shared services—including headcount ratios, SLA targets, and digital enablement levels.
• Learn how to communicate progress and challenges to executive sponsors, COEs, and business units—while educating them on the pace of maturity.
• Discuss practical guidance on selecting internal vs. external comparators, segmenting by process or region, and building a repeatable cadence for measurement and reporting.
• Explore how other early-stage SSOs have created actionable benchmarking strategies to guide service improvement, justify technology investments, and manage change resistance. 

Karen Terrill

VP, Financial Shared Services
TEGNA

See Bio

Dive into a riveting exchange at the G6 where BPO executives stir the pot on industry trends. From the disruptive thrust of Generative AI to radical shifts in strategy, customer-centricity, and tech fusion, this debate uncovers the tumultuous forces shaping the dynamic GBS landscape. 

• Generative AI: Catalyst or Chaos?: Brace yourself for a fiery exploration of Generative AI's potential as BPO leaders clash over its transformative impact on GBS operational models 
• Innovation Wars: Witness BPO titans unveil their arsenals of innovation tactics, leveraging cutting-edge tech and agility to claim the crown in the relentless battle for market supremacy 
• GBS: Evolution or Extinction?: Get ready for a candid discussion as GBS leaders dissect the disruptive trends, sparking a dialogue on whether traditional models can endure in the face of revolutionary change 

For Shared Services leaders building their foundations, AI can seem like a buzzword better suited for mature operations—but that's changing fast. Designed for those at the beginning of their SSO journey, offering actionable insights into how AI can drive measurable business outcomes, even at an early stage, you will learn how to:

• Build a compelling business case that proves ROI for AI investment
• Use process mapping to identify inefficiencies and automation-ready opportunities
• Design for scalability from the start, ensuring your AI strategy evolves as your SSO grow

Whether you’re looking to streamline workflows, improve data visibility, or build the foundation for future innovation, this session will help you start smart and scale strategically.

Nikki Rodgers

SVP, Global Shared Services
Stagwell Global

See Bio

Shared Services and GBS leaders are sitting on a goldmine of operational data—but too often, it’s used reactively instead of strategically. Explore how to transform raw data into an engine for continuous improvement, leveraging process mining and real-time analytics to uncover bottlenecks, hidden costs, and automation opportunities before they impact service levels.

• Identify inefficiencies, compliance risks, and automation opportunities as they happen enhancing both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction
• Choose and track metrics that clearly link operational performance to business outcomes
• Design analytics solutions that adapt to your business needs and work within your existing ecosystem
• Streamline and document workflows to meet compliance requirements without slowing down innovation 

Dive into a riveting exchange at the G6 where BPO executives stir the pot on industry trends. From the disruptive thrust of Generative AI to radical shifts in strategy, customer-centricity, and tech fusion, this debate uncovers the tumultuous forces shaping the dynamic GBS landscape. 

• Generative AI: Catalyst or Chaos?: Brace yourself for a fiery exploration of Generative AI's potential as BPO leaders clash over its transformative impact on GBS operational models 
• Innovation Wars: Witness BPO titans unveil their arsenals of innovation tactics, leveraging cutting-edge tech and agility to claim the crown in the relentless battle for market supremacy 
• GBS: Evolution or Extinction?: Get ready for a candid discussion as GBS leaders dissect the disruptive trends, sparking a dialogue on whether traditional models can endure in the face of revolutionary change 

As global organizations shift toward verticalized operating models, the challenge isn’t just about new structures—it’s about overcoming years of regional independence, embedded ways of working, and scattered systems. Hear how a global transformation leader has helped drive alignment across borders, overcome resistance to change, and turn complexity into cohesion. Explore how to shift mindsets, define non-negotiables, and create change management frameworks that actually work—while still respecting local nuance. Discuss:

• Why verticalization is gaining traction and how it reshapes global delivery
• Pain points of standardization execution and solutions to fix it
• Lessons learned from navigating pushback, exception overload, and cultural resistance
• How to create a "one team" mindset without dismissing local needs
• The role of governance, tech, and clear ownership in driving change
• What success looks like—and how long it really takes to get there 

Amy Wirges

Global Head Operations and Shared Services, Business Assurance
SGS

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When it comes to driving cost optimization at scale, vendor rationalization is often overlooked—but it can unlock powerful efficiencies and enterprise-wide value. In this candid case study, hear best practices on how you can partner closely with procurement to consolidate a fragmented vendor landscape through a disciplined, strategic vendor indexing initiative.

Discover how the team:

• Developed a framework and series of guiding principles to set the tone for how they engage outsourced providers and manage costs and expectations
• Reduced their current list by 40-50%, setting the stage for a future goal of a single-digit master vendor list across technology
• Addressed functional silos and stakeholder resistance, navigating preferences and legacy relationships to achieve greater enterprise buying power
• Took a long-term, data-driven approach to categorize and analyze vendor overlap, enabling smarter strategic decisions
• Balanced cost-saving imperatives with change management, including shifting some functions to fully outsourced models where appropriate

Walk away with actionable strategies for conducting a successful vendor indexing exercise, securing cross-functional alignment, and partnering with procurement to build a more cost-efficient, agile, and future-ready Shared Services organization. 

Dive into a riveting exchange at the G6 where BPO executives stir the pot on industry trends. From the disruptive thrust of Generative AI to radical shifts in strategy, customer-centricity, and tech fusion, this debate uncovers the tumultuous forces shaping the dynamic GBS landscape. 

• Generative AI: Catalyst or Chaos?: Brace yourself for a fiery exploration of Generative AI's potential as BPO leaders clash over its transformative impact on GBS operational models 
• Innovation Wars: Witness BPO titans unveil their arsenals of innovation tactics, leveraging cutting-edge tech and agility to claim the crown in the relentless battle for market supremacy 
• GBS: Evolution or Extinction?: Get ready for a candid discussion as GBS leaders dissect the disruptive trends, sparking a dialogue on whether traditional models can endure in the face of revolutionary change 

As procurement shared services evolve, outsourcing can unlock scale and efficiency—but it also introduces new risks. From service quality to brand integrity and compliance, organizations must strike the right balance between innovation and control. Discover how to build a governance framework that enables performance, minimizes disruption, and keeps your operations aligned with enterprise goals.

• Design governance models that ensure accountability, performance tracking, and quality assurance in outsourced environments
• Establish clear evaluation and segmentation criteria to determine which procurement processes to retain, standardize, or externalize
• Mitigate change management risks through stakeholder alignment, transparent communication, and robust transition plans
• Balance centralized control with localized flexibility to maintain compliance, responsiveness, and stakeholder trust
• Explore hybrid delivery models that combine internal strengths with external efficiencies—without compromising control 

As organizations accelerate digital transformation, many are establishing Centers of Excellence (CoEs) to guide automation and AI strategy. But setting up a CoE is easier said than done. Leaders often struggle with justifying the investment, defining the right organizational design, and balancing centralized governance with business unit needs. Without clear frameworks and practical examples, even well-intentioned CoEs risk stalling or failing to scale.

This session tackles the real-world challenges of building an effective automation and AI CoE, offering practical guidance and case study insights from organizations that have successfully done it. Attendees will learn how to structure a CoE that drives adoption, delivers measurable ROI, and keeps pace with rapidly evolving digital capabilities.

Key Takeaways:

• Define the scope and mandate of an AI/automation CoE to align with enterprise strategy
• Build the business case and secure investment by demonstrating clear ROI and value creation
• Explore organizational design models—centralized, federated, and hybrid—and their trade-offs
• Establish governance frameworks that balance speed, compliance, and innovation
• Learn from case studies of successful CoE launches, including pitfalls to avoid and lessons learned 

Jeff Edwards

SVP, Operations
Ontellus

See Bio

Dive into a riveting exchange at the G6 where BPO executives stir the pot on industry trends. From the disruptive thrust of Generative AI to radical shifts in strategy, customer-centricity, and tech fusion, this debate uncovers the tumultuous forces shaping the dynamic GBS landscape. 

• Generative AI: Catalyst or Chaos?: Brace yourself for a fiery exploration of Generative AI's potential as BPO leaders clash over its transformative impact on GBS operational models 
• Innovation Wars: Witness BPO titans unveil their arsenals of innovation tactics, leveraging cutting-edge tech and agility to claim the crown in the relentless battle for market supremacy 
• GBS: Evolution or Extinction?: Get ready for a candid discussion as GBS leaders dissect the disruptive trends, sparking a dialogue on whether traditional models can endure in the face of revolutionary change 

Transformation isn’t just about hard numbers. While leadership often expects quick financial returns, many of the most impactful benefits—like increased agility, better communication, and improved employee experience—are softer and harder to quantify. To prove true value and guide continuous improvement, shared services teams need to regularly gather user feedback and develop comprehensive metrics that capture both financial and non-financial outcomes.

Gain actionable takeaways:

Implement ongoing user feedback loops to track perceived value and uncover improvement opportunities

Identify and measure soft benefits like agility, collaboration, and employee engagement

Develop balanced scorecards that integrate financial and non-financial metrics

Set realistic expectations with leadership about transformation timelines and value realization

Use data storytelling techniques to communicate a holistic impact to stakeholders 

Ashlie Crosby

SVP, Global Business Solutions Center
Mastercard

See Bio

Dive into a riveting exchange at the G6 where BPO executives stir the pot on industry trends. From the disruptive thrust of Generative AI to radical shifts in strategy, customer-centricity, and tech fusion, this debate uncovers the tumultuous forces shaping the dynamic GBS landscape. 

• Generative AI: Catalyst or Chaos?: Brace yourself for a fiery exploration of Generative AI's potential as BPO leaders clash over its transformative impact on GBS operational models 
• Innovation Wars: Witness BPO titans unveil their arsenals of innovation tactics, leveraging cutting-edge tech and agility to claim the crown in the relentless battle for market supremacy 
• GBS: Evolution or Extinction?: Get ready for a candid discussion as GBS leaders dissect the disruptive trends, sparking a dialogue on whether traditional models can endure in the face of revolutionary change