8 Top Tips from Philips' AI-Powered Digital Strategy

This October, the 19th Shared Services & Outsourcing Week (SSOW) Autumn took place in Amsterdam. For three days, the city offered more than just stroopwafels, as it buzzed with bright ideas and forward-thinking discussions.  

To kick off the conference, Sergio Oliveira, Digital Innovation & Excellence Leader, Philips, delivered a compelling keynote on how the global health technology company is leveraging AI and data to transform its shared service centers.  

His presentation offered a candid look into Philips’ evolving digital strategy, the challenges of implementation, and the critical role of people in sustaining innovation. Here are the top tips from Sergio’s session that every GBS leader should consider when driving AI-powered transformation: 

1. Treat AI Like a Real Employee 

AI isn’t a plug-and-play solution. It requires continuous oversight, just like managing a human team member.

 “You have to constantly monitor because you have to constantly enrich and validate. It is like managing a real person with several tasks in a much more complex environment.” 

Tip: Monitor compliance, validate decisions, and retrain models regularly. 

2. Plan in 6-Month Cycles 

Long-term roadmaps don’t work in AI; the automation landscape changes too rapidly. This short-cycle planning allows teams to stay agile and responsive. 

“I work with a six-month view of the pipeline. If you ask me what my team will be doing in seven months, I have no idea.” 

Tip: Focus on near-term visibility to adapt quickly to tech evolution. 

3. AI as Optional is the Past 

“AI is not a buzzword. Generative AI is not just about use cases; it’s about changing fundamentally how this industry operates.”  

With 98% of organizations having tried AI and 62% scaling globally, the time to act is now. AI implementation is now crucial to remaining competitive.  

Tip: Move beyond pilots and embed AI into core operations. 

4. Redefine Value Beyond Cost Savings 

Labor arbitrage and transactional cost savings are outdated. GBS must evolve to deliver insights, automation, and innovation to continue to show value.

“It’s not about location or labor anymore, it’s about the value partners can deliver.”  

Tip: Focus transformation on differentiated value creation. 

5. Build Digital Literacy Across the Workforce 

AI implementation is futile without a prepared workforce. By empowering teams to leverage AI, transformation can be widespread. However, without a strong foundation, success stories remain isolated. 

 “We need lots of people understanding AI and practicing AI for this to be sustainable,” Sergio warned.

Tip: Democratize AI knowledge to drive cultural change. 

6. Measure ROI as Your Primary KPI 

It can be easy to get lost in a sea of metrics when tracking the success of transformation. But ROI should be your anchor to assessing initiatives. Technical success means little without business impact. 

“Return on investment is the first one. You have to include the total cost of ownership, development, maintenance, and monitoring.”  

Tip: Evaluate AI projects based on ROI, not novelty. 

7. Automate End-to-End Workflows 

The biggest gains come from automating entire processes. Philips targets multi-system, multi-team processes for automation. 

“The central element of complexity is not the screens or the repetition, it’s the workflow."

Tip: Prioritize full workflow automation over isolated tasks. 

8. Foster a Culture of Yes 

Sergio champions a “culture of yes”, where employees are empowered to experiment with AI.  

“Demystifying technology, teaching people how to do it themselves… that’s how you build sustainable transformation."

Tip: Enable grassroots innovation and scale high-value use cases through a COE. 

Final Thoughts 

These lessons highlight that successful AI integration in GBS goes beyond technology implementation; it’s about mindset, strategy, and execution. Organizations that embrace agility, ROI-driven planning, and cultural transformation will lead the next wave of intelligent operations. 

Want to learn more? SSOW Europe returns to Lisbon in 2026!

Join shared services leaders at the 26th annual SSOW Europe 2026 in Estoril, Portugal! This year, we challenge the GBS model from the outside-in; redefining what tomorrow’s service models must deliver. Prepare to benchmark, innovate and build truly future-proof GBS!

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