Sanjay Thirumalai

Sanjay Thirumalai

Chief Global Delivery Officer Stout

Monday, March 16, 2026: SSOWomen's Day & Site Tours

11:30 AM Panel | Lessons Learned: Senior Leaders Share Their Career Journeys and Advice

What does it really take to build, and sustain, a successful career in Shared Services & GBS? In this interactive Q&A, executives with 20+ years of experience pull back the curtain on their professional journeys, revealing the pivotal moments, biggest challenges, and surprising turning points that shaped their paths.

Along the way, they’ll share stories of the mentors, sponsors, and allies who changed the course of their careers, and the lessons they wish they’d known earlier. From navigating industry disruptions to making tough career decisions, this is your chance to hear the unfiltered wisdom of leaders who’ve been there, done that, and are still driving impact today. 

Thursday, March 19, 2026

1:25 PM Panel | Fit-for-Purpose GBS: Rethinking Operating Models for Agility, Scale, and Local Responsiveness

The “right” GBS operating model doesn’t exist in a vacuum—it’s shaped by your services, your markets, your stakeholders, and your digital maturity. Yet many organizations still wrestle with “model confusion” (GCC vs. GBS vs. SSC vs. hybrid), unclear governance, and competing demands for global standardization and local flexibility. Join GBS leaders who’ve faced these challenges head-on will share how they’ve redesigned, repositioned, and rebranded their models to meet evolving business expectations—while navigating governance complexity, stakeholder skepticism, and the relentless push for service expansion. We will discuss:
  • Naming & Framing: Why clarifying your model (GCC, GBS, SSC, hybrid) matters for stakeholder engagement
  • Agility vs. Scale: Balancing local responsiveness with enterprise-wide standardization
  • Governance Simplified: Strategies for reducing role ambiguity and making decision rights clear
  • Model Transitions: Lessons learned in shifting from one structure to another (e.g., SSC to GBS, centralized to hybrid)
  • Digital Alignment: Ensuring your model accelerates—not slows—technology adoption and AI-enabled services
  • Change Management Realities: Winning stakeholder buy-in and overcoming resistance
  • Future Outlook: Why federated and platform-based approaches may dominate the next wave of GBS 

Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Sanjay.

Download The Latest Agenda