Wednesday, March 18, 2026

• The pros and cons of embedding GPOs within delivery vs. positioning them as independent advisors
• How process ownership is shifting amid AI adoption, tech standardization, and M&A activity
• Whether current org design and nomenclature are setting GPOs—and the broader model—up to succeed or struggle
• How to align GPO responsibilities with enterprise goals without overloading or underpowering the role
• Real-world examples of where GPOs have unlocked (or stalled) transformation at scale
• What a future-ready GPO model looks like in a world of intelligent automation and cross-functional collaboration

As new technologies reshape the business landscape, Shared Services and GBS leaders are being challenged to reimagine the very foundations of how work gets done. But technology alone doesn’t drive transformation—people, processes, and performance must evolve in tandem.

• Dive into how to reengineer processes while also building the capabilities, skills, and mindset your teams need to thrive
• Examine the rise of process orchestrators and how to embed this role into your operating model
• Discuss practical strategies for driving performance, from redesigning workflows to fostering adaptability, resilience, and innovation
• Learn how to balance operational efficiency with human potential, ensuring your workforce is ready to maximize technology’s value today—and stay ahead tomorrow 

Jakub Wojdat

Senior Director, Global Head of Finance Shared Services
TE Connectivity

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Kirti Talwar

VP, Accounting Operations
Palo Alto Networks

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As Shared Services and GBS organizations look to scale and innovate, process harmonization is no longer optional—it’s foundational. Explore how leading enterprises are leveraging process mining and execution management to align siloed workflows, standardize operations, and pave the way for intelligent automation and AI. Learn how to move from fragmented execution to real-time, data-driven process excellence—turning complexity into a measurable growth driver.

• Visualize and harmonize your end-to-end processes across regions and functions using real-time process intelligence capabilities
• Benchmark global processes to identify inefficiencies, best practices, and standardization gaps
• Build a transformation roadmap that sets the groundwork for AI enablement—powered by accurate process data
• Drive change at scale by uncovering bottlenecks and automating root cause analysis
• Set AI up for success by ensuring your operations are clean, standardized, and execution-ready 

Sponsored by: Celonis

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Order-to-Cash is one of the most high-impact—and often under-optimized—processes within Shared Services. As enterprises scale, O2C becomes more complex, fragmented, and critical to working capital performance. Hear how an AI-powered O2C platform helps global organizations unify operations, improve customer experience, and accelerate cash flow—no matter where they are in their GBS journey.

• Explore how to harmonize and digitize O2C across ERPs, geographies, and legacy systems
• Walk through a proven approach to end-to-end O2C automation—from credit and billing to collections, deductions, and cash application
• Dive into real-world examples of AI in action: credit scoring, collector prioritization, dispute resolution, and digital assistants
• Leverage working capital dashboards for real-time cash flow visibility and risk monitoring
• Manage change and cross-functional adoption across finance, sales, and customer support teams 

What if travel and expense (T&E) management wasn’t a source of frustration—but a showcase of operational excellence? Discover how next-gen Shared Services and GBS organizations are transforming T&E from a tedious back-office task into a streamlined, data-driven engine for compliance, efficiency, and visibility. Join this session to learn how companies are using intelligent automation and policy-first design to tame complexity, curb spend, and create a seamless experience for employees on the move.

• Automate away manual bottlenecks in travel booking, expense capture, and approval flows
• Bake policies into processes—no more chasing receipts, exceptions, or last-minute fire drills
• Harness real-time analytics and dashboards to track, optimize, and forecast travel spend across regions and teams
• Design one T&E framework that scales globally while respecting regional rules and nuances
• Build mobile-first, self-service experiences that win hearts while boosting speed and accuracy

T&E may not be your flashiest process—but it touches nearly everyone. Walk away inspired to make it a shining example of what process excellence can look like in a modern SSO. 

Sponsored by: SAP Concur

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Finance transformation is no longer just about cutting costs. It’s about protecting cash, maintaining compliance, and building confidence in financial data. Dive into a real-life use case that outlines how this balance was achieved by automating oversight, reducing leakage, and improving stakeholder trust. Walk away with a roadmap for uniting compliance and cash flow under a single transformation strategy.

Sponsored by: Oversight Systems

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As organizations launch or expand SSO functions, the traditional focus on cost reduction is no longer enough to define success. Today’s business environment demands that SSOs deliver broader enterprise value—driving agility, compliance, customer experience, and innovation from day one. Go beyond spreadsheets and expense reductions to articulate how your function can become a catalyst for transformation.

• Learn how to measure and communicate success using value-based outcomes (e.g., improved cycle time, better compliance, stakeholder satisfaction) rather than just cost savings.
• Discover how to position your SSO as an enabler of larger business goals, such as digital transformation, resilience, regulatory readiness, and ESG outcomes.
• Get practical advice on establishing realistic baselines, KPIs, identifying leading indicators, and setting achievable targets for year one and beyond—especially when internal benchmarks are limited.
• Understand how to justify upfront spend in automation, talent, and change management—even when traditional ROI models fall short.
• Hear tips for building early momentum while laying the groundwork for sustainable, scalable value creation across the enterprise. 

Rama Boodadoo

Director, Finance Shared Services
Black & McDonald Limited

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One of the most overlooked risks in standing up a new SSO is the lack of a cohesive data strategy. Early-stage centers often face fragmented systems, unclear data ownership, and inconsistent reporting—challenges that can slow progress, hinder automation, and erode stakeholder trust. The solution? Establish a data-first mindset from the start. Together we will learn how to build a unified, enterprise-wide data foundation that supports decision-making, process visibility, and future AI-readiness.

• Dive into best practices for establishing centralized, flexible data infrastructure that aligns with your operating model and functional scope
• Define data stewardship roles, create accountability structures, and ensure high-quality inputs across functions
• Learn how to identify and map critical data flows across core processes like P2P, O2C, R2R, and procurement to eliminate blind spots and silos
• Explore tools and techniques for consolidating reporting, enhancing analytics capabilities, and building a single source of truth
• Learn from early adopters who struggled with disconnected systems and how they course-corrected to create actionable data ecosystems 

Sponsored by: ProHance

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Before you automate, map. Join this session for a step-by-step guide on how to bring order to operational complexity through process mapping and smart automation strategies specifically geared to new SSOs:

• Uncover best practices to document and analyze workflows across key shared services functions to create a solid foundation before automation by uncovering inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and variation that need addressing
• Discover how to prioritize automation opportunities that deliver immediate impact with minimal complexity
• Use process mapping as a guiding tool to align technology investments with real operational needs, ensuring automation solutions are scalable and sustainable
• Gain practical advice on challenges specific to immature SSOs, including fragmented data, lack of standardization, and change resistance—helping you navigate a smoother path to automation maturity
• Explore how involving frontline staff and stakeholders in process mapping drives buy-in and uncovers hidden insights critical for successful automation 

Too often, business units request new features without fully grasping technical complexities, while IT proposes solutions without fully understanding the business need. Add to this the rising role of information security in digital and AI initiatives, and misalignment can quickly create costly delays, frustrated stakeholders, and compliance risks.

This session explores how organizations can move from siloed conversations to shared governance models that bring business, IT, and Info Security to the same table from the start. By establishing common frameworks, aligning priorities, and embedding security into the design process, companies can accelerate transformation while ensuring trust, compliance, and business value.

Action Items:

• Establish governance frameworks that integrate business, IT, and Info Security early in the discovery process
• Use business problem framing techniques to clarify objectives before designing solutions
• Involve InfoSec proactively in AI and digital initiatives to avoid late-stage delays and risks
• Create transparent prioritization models and trade-off discussions to balance speed, value, and security
• Implement iterative feedback loops that keep business, IT, and Info Security aligned as needs evolve 

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. 

Procure-to-Pay (P2P) is often fractured by functional silos—where sourcing and payables operate independently, undermining enterprise value and efficiency. Explore how to unify these functions into a single, streamlined value stream that delivers measurable impact across the organization. Together we will discover how mature Shared Services environments are tackling these obstacles with automation, standardization, and end-to-end visibility.

• Reframe sourcing and payables as one cohesive, cross-functional team
• Build the business case for payables automation—even when ROI isn’t obvious
• Gain leadership buy-in for transforming non-revenue functions into efficiency engines
• Move toward invisible, automated back-office operations that free up enterprise capacity 

In a time when cost control is critical and expectations for procurement continue to rise, unlocking deeper insights into category savings is a top priority for GBS and procurement leaders. Technology is now a key enabler in identifying savings opportunities, improving compliance, and ensuring procurement is a strategic lever for the business. But not all tech is created equal—and CFOs are looking for low-risk, high-impact solutions that can deliver immediate value with minimal disruption.

• Identify top vendors driving innovation in category management
• Discover tech-enabled transitions with minimal operational impact
• Discuss how to frame ROI, risk mitigation, and value realization to secure executive buy-in for savings-focused digital transformation
• Hear real examples of organizations that have harnessed tech to unlock hidden value, gain visibility, and drive performance

The traditional playbook for cost reduction in Shared Services and GBS is no longer enough. As the pressure to deliver more with less intensifies, GBS and Shared Services leaders are shifting focus—from pure efficiency to enterprise enablement. This session brings together organizations that have evolved their scope to include non-traditional, high-impact functions like sales enablement, engineering, compliance, and real estate. Join forward-thinking GBS leaders to answer the hard questions:

• How are GBS organizations moving beyond cost to deliver strategic value?
• What’s driving the inclusion of new functions like sales ops, real estate, or compliance?
• How do multi-function, multi-location, agile models unlock growth and innovation?
• What skills and leadership mindsets are required to elevate the scope of GBS?
• How do you secure buy-in for expansion and prove ROI in emerging service areas? 

Tom McFarland

SVP, Head of Customer Success Shared Services
LHH

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Joaquin Garcia Smith

HR Shared Service Center Head Americas
FLIX

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As revenue pressures intensify and data becomes a frontline asset, organizations are evolving GBS beyond traditional support functions. Get a behind-the-scenes look at how one enterprise successfully integrated sales enablement and commercial operations into its GBS model—creating new value streams, accelerating go-to-market efforts, and reshaping its perception as a growth engine.

• Unpack how to make the case for commercial services in GBS including how to position and structure revenue-adjacent functions like sales ops, lead generation, ad operations, and channel analytics
• Learn how unified data, shared service layers, and AI-driven insights enabled faster, more consistent sales support across regions
• Explore how commercial teams benefited from automation, streamlined onboarding, lead-to-cash alignment, and more effective reporting
• Hear lessons learned around stakeholder alignment, change resistance, and creating a customer-service mindset in sales-facing teams 

Isaac Knoot

Vice President, Global Business Services
Boston Scientific

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McCormick’s Technical Shared Services team stands out as a unique example of scope and value evolution, moving beyond traditional back-office functions to deliver complex, business-critical services across quality, regulatory compliance, product certification, and technical documentation.

What sets McCormick apart is the integration of these technical and regulatory services within their GBS, enabling rapid, high-quality support for both internal and external stakeholders. Their ability to deliver complex documentation within 24 hours, navigate global regulatory environments, and support business expansion into new markets demonstrates the strategic value of a mature, innovative shared services model. Join this session to:

• Explore McCormick’s journey in building and scaling their technical shared services and the challenges and opportunities of scope expansion
• Discuss lessons learned along the way in seeking to differentiate and elevate their GBS operations
• Hear how the function provides direct value to both internal (R&D, manufacturing) and external (customers, vendors) stakeholders 

Milena Biardzka

Global Delivery Lead, Technology Shared Services
McCormick & Company, Inc

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