Disclaimer: The content of this article is based on the author's own independent reflections and thoughts and is not in any way associated with any company or organisation and has no commercial intent.
This is Part 2 of a three-part series exploring how Generative AI is fundamentally reshaping Global Business Services.
In Part 1, I introduced the Intelligence Triad framework that I believe forms the foundation of GBS 3.0. Today, I want to share why intelligence orchestration alone isn't sufficient for sustainable transformation, and introduce two revolutionary concepts that I believe will reshape how we think about value creation and industry structure.
Beyond Technology: The Virtuoso Dynamic Model (VDM)
Through my continued investigation, I realized that intelligence orchestration alone is insufficient for sustainable transformation. A critical understanding emerged from my analysis: technology alone isn't the answer to creating lasting value in GBS 3.0. Success comes from combining high-quality data and robust processes with state-of-the-art technology to create what I call the "Virtuoso Dynamic Model" (VDM) for value creation.
My VDM framework recognizes that even the most sophisticated AI systems and perfectly orchestrated Intelligence Triad will fail without the foundational elements of data integrity and process excellence. Like a virtuoso musician who combines technical mastery with a deep understanding of musical structure and emotional expression, I believe successful GBS 3.0 organizations must achieve mastery across multiple dimensions simultaneously.
This model, which I continue to develop and refine, acknowledges that sustainable competitive advantage comes not from any single technological breakthrough, but from the dynamic interplay between data quality, process optimization, and technological capability - all orchestrated through the Intelligence Triad. Organizations that understand this holistic approach will build more resilient, adaptable, and ultimately more valuable service delivery models.
My VDM framework represents an evolution in my thinking about business transformation, moving beyond technology-centric approaches to embrace a more nuanced understanding of how lasting value is created in complex business environments. This foundational concept continues to evolve as I observe how organizations discover new ways to optimize the relationship between data, process, and technology in service of amplified intelligence.
Mutualise to Survive: Vision for GBS Condominiums
Through my analysis of GBS evolution, I have identified a thought-provoking paradigm shift that I believe is essential for the future: the recognition that individual companies creating isolated GBS operations may no longer be the most effective approach in an intelligence-driven world. I call this concept "Mutualise to Survive" and it introduces what I envision as a revolutionary model where companies can scale faster and compete more effectively through strategic collaboration.
Currently, each company creates its own GBS operation - this remains the status quo. While this approach makes sense for retaining competitive knowledge around confidential and proprietary processes, I have observed that it often results in suboptimal scale, duplicated investments, and slower technology adoption due to individual business case limitations.
A proposed solution lies in what I term "GBS Condominiums" - strategic alliances where companies maintain their own contracted scope and process ownership while sharing non-competitive processes, services, and capabilities across a consortium of organizations. This model enables companies to retain their competitive intelligence and process ownership while achieving the scale and efficiency benefits traditionally available only to the largest enterprises.
Importantly, GBS Condominiums differ fundamentally from traditional outsourcing models. Rather than assigning services to a third party, condominium partners share capabilities and resources - much like a housing condominium shares common facilities and services among residents. Each company maintains ownership and control while benefiting from shared infrastructure, expertise, and scale economies.
Vision for the Condominium Advantage
I believe the GBS Condominium model delivers multiple strategic advantages. First, it creates competitive scale - smaller companies can access enterprise-level capabilities typically reserved for global corporations. Second, it enables accelerated technology adoption - the shared investment model makes business cases for new technology implementation more compelling, as ROI calculations benefit from distributed costs and amplified benefits across multiple organizations.
Third, I see how the model facilitates enhanced negotiating power - GBS condominiums can negotiate better pricing for technology platforms, talent acquisition, and service partnerships due to their collective scale and commitment. Fourth, it promotes ecosystem development - partner ecosystems become more prevalent and valuable when they can serve multiple companies simultaneously, creating network effects that benefit all participants.
Crucially, I believe the mutualization creates a shared revenue model for those organizations sharing their capabilities, while simultaneously lowering costs for those seeking to tap into capabilities that are already streamlined. This significantly reduces setup costs and eliminates the need for duplicated investments, creating a win-win economic dynamic where capability providers generate additional revenue streams while capability seekers access sophisticated services at a fraction of the traditional implementation cost.
Preserving Competitive Advantage in the Model
What I find particularly compelling about the GBS Condominium model is its ability to separate competitive differentiation from operational efficiency. Companies maintain full ownership and control over processes that create competitive advantage - their proprietary methodologies, customer-specific workflows, and confidential business intelligence remain completely protected.
However, standard processes like basic accounting operations, standard HR transactions, common compliance activities, and routine data processing can be shared and optimized across the condominium. This separation allows companies to achieve operational efficiency without compromising strategic differentiation.
Particularly compelling examples include Master Data Management services, where shared data governance and standardization benefit all participants, and security services such as payment fraud prevention and Know Your Customer/Know Your Vendor processes. In these areas, the mutualized approach actually increases security across the full condominium - the collective intelligence from multiple organizations creates more robust threat detection, broader pattern recognition, and stronger defense mechanisms than any single company could achieve independently.
How Condominiums Amplify the Intelligence Triad
I have a firm conviction that the condominium model actually amplifies the effectiveness of my Intelligence Triad framework. Human Intelligence benefits from exposure to diverse business contexts and challenges across multiple organizations, creating more versatile and experienced professionals. Process Intelligence develops more rapidly through exposure to varied operational environments and cross-pollination of best practices. Artificial Intelligence systems become more robust and capable through training on diverse datasets and use cases from multiple companies.
Scaling the Virtuoso Dynamic Model
GBS Condominiums also enable more effective implementation of my VDM framework. The shared investment model makes it economically viable to invest in premium data quality initiatives, sophisticated process optimization, and cutting-edge technology implementations that might be cost-prohibitive for individual companies. The result is a more powerful and sustainable VDM that delivers superior value to all participants.
This mutualization approach represents what I see as a fundamental shift from competitive isolation to collaborative advantage, enabling companies to survive and thrive in the increasingly complex and capital-intensive world of GBS 3.0 while preserving the competitive elements that drive business success.
The Path Forward
The VDM framework and GBS Condominium model represent more than just operational improvements - they're fundamental reimaginings of how value is created and how organizations can achieve sustainable competitive advantage in an AI-driven world. Organizations that begin exploring these collaborative models today will be best positioned to lead the transformation that's reshaping our industry.
In next week's final article of this series, I'll explore how these new models are revolutionizing sourcing strategies, driving industry-wide transformation, and creating new challenges and opportunities that will define the future of Global Business Services.
The question for every GBS leader is: Will your organization cling to the isolated models of the past, or will you embrace the collaborative intelligence that will define the future?