SSOW 2026 Day 2: Wednesday, 13 May 2026


SSOW 2026 Day 1: Tuesday, 12 May 2026 SSOW 2026 Day 2: Wednesday, 13 May 2026 NextGen Finance Transformation 2026 Day 1: Tuesday, 12 May 2026 NextGen Finance Transformation 2026 Day 2: Wednesday, 13 May 2026
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9:00 am - 9:10 am Chair’s Opening Remarks | The Big Picture: What’s Ahead for Australia’s SSOW Community

Melissa Guy - Finance Strategy & Improvement Lead - Group Finance, Woolworths Group
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Melissa Guy

Finance Strategy & Improvement Lead - Group Finance
Woolworths Group
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9:10 am - 9:40 am PANEL DISCUSSION | From Transactional to Transformational: How SSO Leaders Rebuild Teams for an AI-Driven Future

Lisa Seary - Head of Shared Services, Boral
Espie Ang - Senior Manager Shared Services, Arnotts Group
Rachel Anderson - Head of Business Connect (Shared Services), Sydney Water

Automation and AI are eliminating traditional shared services roles at an accelerating pace, yet most organisations lack coherent strategies for reskilling displaced workers or attracting future-ready talent. This panel confronts the workforce crisis head-on—exploring how C-level leaders are redesigning talent strategies, reimagining career paths, and fundamentally shifting culture to build high-performing teams capable of thriving in an AI-augmented environment.

Key Takeaways:
• The skills gap reality: identifying which roles face obsolescence and what capabilities your future workforce actually needs
• Proven reskilling frameworks that successfully transition transactional workers into analytical, strategic, and AI-collaboration roles
• Talent acquisition strategies to attract digital-native professionals who view shared services as a career destination, not a dead-end

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Lisa Seary

Head of Shared Services
Boral
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Espie Ang

Senior Manager Shared Services
Arnotts Group
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Rachel Anderson

Head of Business Connect (Shared Services)
Sydney Water
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9:40 am - 10:10 am he Human Side of AI: Transforming Mindset, Skills, and Execution in Shared Services

Tim Johnson - Head of Intelligent Solutions Delivery, Suncorp Group Limited

Most shared services AI initiatives fail not because of technology, but because organisations underestimate the cultural resistance, skills deficits, and execution gaps that sabotage adoption. This session cuts through the hype to reveal practical strategies for fundamentally resetting workforce mindset, building AI-ready capabilities, and redesigning processes to harness AI effectively—turning potential into measurable performance gains.

Key Takeaways:
• Why AI projects stall: the culture and change management failures that kill transformation before technology does
• Reskilling roadmaps that prepare shared services teams to work alongside AI, not fear replacement by it
• Process redesign principles: re-engineering workflows to maximise AI impact rather than automating broken processes

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Tim Johnson

Head of Intelligent Solutions Delivery
Suncorp Group Limited
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10:10 am - 10:40 am Panel: Turning Automation and AI Investments into Measurable Business Impact for Shared Services

Kate Wadwell - Manager, Finance Operations & Director, Business Process Outsourcing Review (Bpo, BlueScope
Adrian Hudson - General Manager, Queensland Shared Services
David Cooper - Head of Transformation, Jord International
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Kate Wadwell

Manager, Finance Operations & Director, Business Process Outsourcing Review (Bpo
BlueScope
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Adrian Hudson

General Manager
Queensland Shared Services
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David Cooper

Head of Transformation
Jord International
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10:40 am - 11:00 am People-led AI Adoption and Change

This session focuses on the human side of AI transformation, specifically how leaders can guide teams through AI adoption when confidence, capability and appetite vary widely.

Rather than concentrating on tools or technical maturity, the session explores how AI changes work, decision-making and identity, and why these shifts often trigger resistance, uncertainty or misalignment if not addressed deliberately.
Using a short case example from a large, purpose-driven organisation navigating AI adoption, I will show how leaders:
• Identified different AI readiness profiles across teams
• Shifted their engagement approach without slowing delivery
• Created safer, clearer pathways for experimentation and adoption

11:00 am - 11:30 am Morning Recharge in the EXPO Hall

Fuel up, connect, and explore - your chance to grab a coffee, meet solution partners, and spark new conversations across

Australia’s leadership community.


11:30 am - 12:00 pm Fireside Chat | Building Resilient GBS in Times of Disruption

Amanda Roser - General Manager of Corporate Services, Guide Dogs Queensland
Kym Davis - Director, Dr Kym Davis
Shakira Snowdon - Country Head of Philippines, Pepper Money

Economic volatility, geopolitical instability, technology failures, and talent disruptions are hitting shared services with increasing frequency and severity—yet most organizations lack genuine resilience beyond basic continuity plans. This session explores how forward-thinking SSO and GBS leaders are building adaptive, anti-fragile operations capable of absorbing shocks, maintaining performance under pressure, and emerging stronger from inevitable disruptions.
Key Takeaways:
• Why traditional business continuity planning fails in today's multi-threat environment and what true resilience requires
• Operating model design principles that build flexibility, redundancy, and rapid recovery capabilities without sacrificing efficiency
• Technology and workforce strategies that enable shared services to pivot quickly during economic, operational, or talent crises

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Amanda Roser

General Manager of Corporate Services
Guide Dogs Queensland
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Kym Davis

Director
Dr Kym Davis
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Shakira Snowdon

Country Head of Philippines
Pepper Money
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SPOTLIGHT Sessions

Spotlight Session A

12:00 pm - 12:15 pm Session A: Achieving True Cross-Functional Collaboration in Shared Services
Lisa Seary - Head of Shared Services, Boral
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Lisa Seary

Head of Shared Services
Boral
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Spotlight Session B

12:15 pm - 12:30 pm Session B: Driving AI Transformation in Shared Services Through Workforce & Automation
Kate Wadwell - Manager, Finance Operations & Director, Business Process Outsourcing Review (Bpo, BlueScope
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Kate Wadwell

Manager, Finance Operations & Director, Business Process Outsourcing Review (Bpo
BlueScope
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12:30 pm - 1:00 pm How Sims Aligned Strategy, Change, Communications and Culture for Offshoring Success

Neil Padley - Global Head of Shared Services, Sims Metal

Shared Services and Outsourcing: From Insight to Impact — The Convergence of Theory and Practice

This session bridges practice and theory to explore SS&O's evolution, current state, and the next frontier—where tomorrow's operating models and leadership capabilities will be defined.
Key Takeaways:
• How SS&O has matured from cost arbitrage through GBS standardization to AI-enabled delivery and strategic value creation
• Why the meeting of practitioner innovation and academic research elevates SS&O from tactical function to strategic discipline
• Emerging challenges, opportunities, and the evolved leadership capabilities required to shape SS&O's future impact
• Frameworks and approaches practitioners can apply immediately to position SS&O as enterprise architects, not just service providers
Dr Kym Davis, Director, Kym Davis Advisory
How Sims Aligned Strategy, Change, Communications and Culture for Offshoring Success
Organizations face mounting pressure to deliver both economies of scale and localized agility—a tension that traditional centralized models cannot resolve. This session explores innovative approaches to balance global efficiency with local relevance without sacrificing either.
Key Takeaways:
• Strategic Clarity: Defining the 'Why' Beyond Cost
• Location and Partner Selection: A Data-Driven Approach
• Seamless Integration: Investing in People and Processes
• Performance and Quality Assurance: Measuring What Matters
• Tangible Outcomes: Proving ROI and Scaling Effectively
Neil Padley, Global Head of Shared Services, Sims

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Neil Padley

Global Head of Shared Services
Sims Metal
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1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Networking Lunch & VIP Hosted Lunches

Join us in the expo hall for a relaxed networking lunch with the full shared service community - connect with peers, explore the exhibition, and recharge for the afternoon ahead. For invited guests, exclusive VIP lunches will run concurrently - bringing senior leaders and select partners together for high-impact conversations in a more intimate setting


2:00 pm - 2:30 pm Outsourcing 4.0: Leveraging AI, Automation, and Strategic Partnerships for Market Advantage

Reza Akbari - Associate Director - Engagement, CQ University.

This session explores Outsourcing 4.0, where AI, robotics, IoT, and machine learning fundamentally transform what outsourcing can deliver. Drawing on insights from The Road to Outsourcing 4.0, learn how forward-thinking organisations are shifting from transactional, cost-driven partnerships to digitally-enabled, strategic relationships that create resilience, innovation capability, and genuine competitive advantage.

Key Takeaways:

• The obsolescence of traditional outsourcing: why cost arbitrage models are failing as automation eliminates the labor advantage

• Digital enablers transforming outsourcing: how AI, RPA, IoT, and machine learning create exponentially greater value than labor-based models

• Strategic partnership frameworks: moving from vendor management to collaborative relationships focused on innovation, resilience, and mutual value


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Reza Akbari

Associate Director - Engagement
CQ University.
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2:30 pm - 3:00 pm Shared Services and Outsourcing: From Insight to Impact — The Convergence of Theory and Practice

Kym Davis - Director, Dr Kym Davis

This session bridges practice and theory to explore SS&O's evolution, current state, and the next frontier—where tomorrow's operating models and leadership capabilities will be defined.
Key Takeaways:
• How SS&O has matured from cost arbitrage through GBS standardization to AI-enabled delivery and strategic value creation
• Why the meeting of practitioner innovation and academic research elevates SS&O from tactical function to strategic discipline
• Emerging challenges, opportunities, and the evolved leadership capabilities required to shape SS&O's future impact
• Frameworks and approaches practitioners can apply immediately to position SS&O as enterprise architects, not just service providers

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Kym Davis

Director
Dr Kym Davis
See Bio

3:00 pm - 3:30 pm PANEL DISCUSSION | The Speed vs. Control Paradox: Can Shared Services Innovate Without Breaking Standardisation?

Fran Olidar - Head of Shared Services,, Virtus health
Alan Ward - Director, Shared Services, People & Culture, Swinburne University of Technology


Shared services organisations are being pulled in opposite directions—business partners demand rapid customisation and experimentation while leadership expects cost efficiency through standardisation. This panel reveals how leading SSOs are creating dual-speed models that enable fast innovation tracks for strategic initiatives while maintaining disciplined, scalable operations for core transactional work.
Key Takeaways:
• How to segment your shared services portfolio into "fast lane" innovation and "steady lane" standardised operations
• Governance models that prevent multi-speed approaches from fragmenting your service delivery or creating silos
• Resource allocation strategies: staffing and funding innovation without compromising BAU efficiency

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Fran Olidar

Head of Shared Services,
Virtus health
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Alan Ward

Director, Shared Services, People & Culture
Swinburne University of Technology
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3:30 pm - 3:40 pm Chair’s Closing Remarks and Close of Conference

Melissa Guy - Finance Strategy & Improvement Lead - Group Finance, Woolworths Group
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Melissa Guy

Finance Strategy & Improvement Lead - Group Finance
Woolworths Group
See Bio

In Partnership With:

Shared Services

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