Service Council inService™ Podcast Series

According to the most recent Service Council Voice of the Field Technician Survey, 60% of survey respondents (ages 25-44) don’t anticipate remaining in the role over the next decade. That’s a disturbing statistic for service leaders, particularly given other talent shortage trends such as the aging workforce, the Silver Tsunami, and the Great Resignation. So, what’s the answer? We believe creating a career lattice of learning and growth opportunities, vs. the traditional career ladder, may provide a glimpse into new ways of defining and measuring the success of field service work. Join our inService Podcast host David Nour, as he welcomes Rod Cook, Director of NA Service Operations at Trane Technologies to discuss Career Pathing for Field Service Technicians and the impact of the global pandemic on the lives of field service technicians, safety, policies, and quarantine mandates.

From the great resignation, to the silver tsunami, the talent agenda continues to challenge field service, customer service, and customer experience organizations globally. What if there was a unique business model that could provide leaders with a bit of relief? Join this episode of the inService Podcast with host David Nour, as he welcomes Mynul Khan, founder and CEO of Field Nation. Recognizing the growing need for companies and independent workers to easily connect, Mynul Khan founded Field Nation in 2008, completely changing the landscape for on-site service work. His leadership has turned a once-budding startup into an enterprise-level offering that’s processed over $1B in transactions. With a degree in Computer Science and a background in programming and data analysis, Mynul continues to expand Field Nation’s platform to allow businesses to grow their service delivery model, and maximize their profitability in the process. Today, Mynul sits on the Field Nation Board of Directors, and the Board of Trustees for St. Cloud State University. He is also an Advisory Board Member of CompTIA.

How's your service team's mental health during this ongoing global pandemic? How's their head and heart, really? If they're not feeling their best, how can they possibly deliver their best for internal or external stakeholders? Join David Nour on this episode of the Service Council inService Podcast series as he welcomes guest Gail Sease, former manager of training and technical information at Hobart Service, as they discuss mental health and the employee experience. Join us bi-monthly as we interview global field service, customer service, customer experience, and tech enabling leaders of their success. 

Join David Nour on this episode of the Service Council inService Podcast series with Darren Roos, CEO of IFS - the global leader in Field Service Management, Enterprise Asset Management, and Enterprise Resource Planning. Darren’s career-building global software business spans over 20 years. Shouldering end-to-end responsibility for all products and the well-being and efficiency of 4,000 staff, Darren was the President of SAP’s global ERP Cloud business. With a reputation for being connected, direct, and invested, he also delivered his brand of consistency as General Manager of Northern Europe and Chief Operating Officer of EMEA for the company. No less significant is the time he spent with Software AG as President of EMEA, APJ, LATAM as well as being on Software AG’s Group Executive Board. A respected thought-leadership writer and Cloud expert, Darren’s not frightened of bucking comfortable trends within the industry. He doesn’t see being hot-on-the-heels of the market leaders as second place; working smart doesn’t take the place of working hard, and asking for help isn’t showing weakness.  He advocates being in love with what you do, focusing on outcomes rather than hurdles, and facilitating customer choice at every step. Having grown up in South Africa, he understands the sound case for diversity in business. When not at work, Darren puts as much energy into enjoying time with his wife and three children. In addition, he currently is a Board Director at Sitecore.

Join David Nour on this episode of the Service Council's inService Podcast Series as he interviews John Carroll, Service Council's founder, and CEO on the newly formed Service Evolve. John Carroll is an entrepreneurial, marketing, and business development executive with a consistent record of growing revenue, market share, and business valuation. He founded Service Council™ in 2009 with a vision to create a platform for innovation sharing, shaping, and sharpening; where uncommon service-centric businesses can emulate the strategies deployed by Global Service Leaders. Under Carroll’s direction, Service Council has grown from a groundbreaking idea to a community that features greater than 150,000 service executives worldwide across 6 continents, with representation in greater than 30 countries. John, Michael Israel, and Sheila Ahmed also join Nour for this LinkedIn Live conversation. Learn more at ServiceCouncil.com and join us this September 13-15 in Chicago for the Service Symposium. 

He leads the U.S. Digital Buildings business for Schneider Electric. A recognized pioneer in Field Services and the Building Management space, he is a leader in accelerating the digital service experience for commercial buildings.  With a career spanning close to four decades having held positions ranging from the frontline to the boardroom, he brings a unique perspective to driving strategic change in the industry.   Prior to joining Schneider Electric, he held leadership positions at Comfort Systems and Johnson Controls. He earned his MBA at the University of Maryland and is based in Dallas, Texas. Join David Nour on this episode of the Service Council inService Podcast with James Mylett. BTW, James will be our guest on LinkedIn LIVE today at Noon ET - Join us to ask questions. We also turn the show notes from our podcasts into more in-depth articles, so check them on the Service Council website.

He is the Chief Innovation Officer at Vertiv, a global provider of critical digital infrastructure and continuity solutions headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. In his 30+ years in the industry, he has also led the global advanced analytics group for the services team at Vertiv, specializing in real-time data and connecting Vertiv’s nearly 1 billion operating products to the Vertiv cloud. He was also the global director of life-cycle management for the services group and has led in other services roles. His educational background includes ABD at Liberty University focusing on Agile project management of IoT and Big Data projects, an MBA from the University of Phoenix, and undergraduate degrees in Applied Mathematics and Information Technology. He is also a licensed commercial pilot and an avid biker. Join David Nour on this episode of the Service Council's inService Podcast Series with Greg Ratcliff. BTW, three quick points: Gregg will join Nour and Michael Israel, Service Council COO, today at Noon ET for a LinkedIn Live session. Hope you'll join us. We turn these podcast interviews into more in-depth articles, so check them out in the Service Council blog. We have some fabulous guests coming up, including John Carroll, Service Council founder to discuss Service Evolve. Hope you'll subscribe wherever you consume podcasts or at ServiceCouncil.com/Podcast.

She has proudly served Southwest Airlines for nearly 20 years and began her career as a Flight Attendant. She has held various Leadership roles along the way and currently serves as the Vice President for Inflight Operations.  She is passionate about helping others find what inspires them and believes that finding that inspiration is what drives Employee success. As a native of Louisiana, she is no stranger to Hospitality, and her passion for outstanding Customer Service drives her to make personal connections with Employees.  She and her husband, Michael, have two adult sons, Bobby and Brad. Join David Nour on this episode of the Service Council inService Podcast with Sonya Lacore. BTW, two quick points: We host each month's guest on a live stream video interview, so search #inServicePodcast for the latest updates.  We turn the show notes from these podcast interviews into more in-depth articles, so look for them on ServiceCouncil.com/Blog

She is the Director of the Critical Accounts Program (CAP), an exclusive escalation program that provides tactical management for strategic, high-level enterprise accounts in a critical state. Together with her team of experienced CAP managers, her goal is to ensure that all accounts entering the CAP program receive the highest level of account/escalation management throughout the venture, returning the account to a state of overall health and restoring the partnership to an HPE reference status. In 2016, the team won the President’s Quality Award (PQA), HPE’s top award for quality. In her previous role, she led the 3PAR Critical Case Management team, a global high-performance program, and the team responsible for managing all 3PAR outage events. In this role, she established key relationships across HPE in support of addressing and resolving customer issues, working closely with HPE account teams, and promoting profitable customer relationships. Prior to this, she held roles such as VP Customer Service and VP Professional Services in various technology companies, designing escalation programs targeting large enterprise-class customers, by optimizing cross-functional collaboration with key stakeholder groups to resolve complex and critical issues. She holds a master’s degree in business from Golden Gate University in California. Join David Nour on this episode of the Service Council inService Podcast with Gaven Fahl. BTW, two quick points: We host each month's guest on a TW Chat or a live stream, so search #inServicePodcast for the latest updates. We turn the show notes from these podcast interviews into more in-depth articles, so look for them on ServiceCouncil.com/Blog

He is a serial entrepreneur leading his fifth successful company in the industrial software sector, including the two most recent – ThingWorx, the leading Industrial IoT platform company (acquired by PTC), and Light-hammer, the pioneer in enterprise manufacturing intelligence software (acquired by SAP). He has been intimately involved in the last three software revolutions around humans and machines in manufacturing and service. Join me on this episode of the Service Council inService Podcast series with Russ Fadel, CEO, and Co-Founder of Augmentir.

She is the Global Sr. Director of the Technical Solutions Center at Ortho Clinical Diagnostics. In this role, she's responsible for driving the strategic direction of Ortho's remote global technical support centers and oversees the daily operations for field escalation, remote support, and technology-enabled customer support and service. Before joining Ortho Clinical Diagnostics in 2015, she held varying roles within Technical Phone Support, Field Service, Technical Training, and Global Support Management. She began her career as a Medical Technologist working in multiple hospital clinical laboratories before moving to the medical device sector. She leads through service leadership, and prides herself on motivating her team to meet people "where they are," which means deeply understanding a person’s values, emotions and needs before engaging with them to foster strong connections, collaboration, and alignment. Join us on this episode of the Service Council inService Podcast with Linda Tucci. Learn more about the Service Council and listen to our other episodes at ServiceCouncil.com/podcasts.

A digital transformation and analytics specialist with over 20 years of client-facing experience, he has held management positions at both IBM Canada and Cognos, before joining ProntoForms in 2018.  Driven by a passion for building customer solutions which are based on innovation, design, and experience, he previously led the Professional Services team at ProntoForms, before assuming responsibility for Operations (systems, data & analytics, and business processes management).  He holds an Executive MBA from the University of Ottawa, and Bachelor's degrees from the University of Waterloo and McMaster University.  He continues to subscribe to life-long learning and endeavors to stay abreast of all topics in the realm of thought leadership, design thinking, and artificial intelligence. Join us on this episode of the Service Council inService Podcast with Aly Mawani.

He is currently the Service Director at BioTek Instruments, Inc., based in Vermont, and is responsible for the development and management of BioTek’s global service operations for all products and services. From installing customer equipment, training customers, field service, depot service, technical assistance call centers, contract sales/management, parts management, equipment documentation as well as dealer/distributor training.  Before joining BioTek in 2008, his background includes a vast array of industries including industrial machining, wood products, electronics, biotechnology, food products, defense industry, and others.  Join us on this episode of the Service Council inService Podcast Series with Sean Jordan. 

He is the Senior Vice President of Dell Technologies Deployment and Partner Services, leading a global organization of over 4,000 service professionals, serving Dell Technologies’ customers in more than 140 countries. From configuration services, installations and deployments, managed services, on-site support, and asset recycling and resale, his team is responsible for supporting the entire customer lifecycle, and a $1 billion P&L. Join us on this episode of the Service Council inService Podcast Series with Bob Feiner. I'm David Nour, host of the Service Council inService Podcast Series and this is episode 2 in our fourth season. Learn more at https://servicecouncil.com or email us your comment and suggestions for future episodes a podcasts@servicecouncil.com. #InServicePodcasts

According to Service Council’s Voice of the Field Service Engineer survey, 60% of frontline workers report that the products they service have grown significantly more complex over the past five years. As assets grow more complex, so does the support required to install, maintain and repair them. While traditional text-based AI excels at addressing common and routine issues, support teams often face challenges when problems are nuanced or involve multiple data types, such as images, video, voice, or structured data. In these cases, incomplete context can lead to extended downtime, additional delays, and increased frustration for both technicians and customers.Join us as Service Council’s Chief Research Officer, Gerardo Pelayo, sits down with Shan Lilja, President and Founder of Mavenoid. Together, they’ll discuss how service leaders can design more effective escalation paths that capture the full context of a customer’s issue, enabling faster and more accurate resolutions while preserving the essential role of human expertise.Shan is the co-founder and CEO of Mavenoid. Prior to Mavenoid, he co-founded the internet startup Gruppi, acquired by 24 Media Network, and was an early employee at Palantir.

AI is challenging the traditional constraints and expectations of service operations, changing how organizations deliver value, measure success, and supplement human judgment with intelligent automation. As AI agents become increasingly able to handle anything from routine tasks to complex processes, leaders face new challenges that transcend the technical capabilities: How to ensure quality experiences and manage a hybrid human and AI workforce so they can maintain trust, elevate service, and operate effectively in an AI-powered environment?Join us on Thursday, December 18th, at 12pm EST as host John Carroll sits down with Brett Weigl, Oracle’s VP of Product Management, Oracle Fusion Service and Field Service. Together, they’ll discuss why AI agents need clear roles, escalation paths, and accountability just like human team members, and why service experience design should precede automation. Brett will share lessons from large-scale implementations and examines how frontline roles, analytics, and orchestration are evolving in a world where humans and AI collaborate, offering practical insight for leaders navigating the future of service.Brett Weigl drives the product strategy and product development for AI-first self-service, assisted customer service, and field service at Oracle. With a proven track record as a product leader at Salesforce, ExactTarget, and Genesys, Brett is a recognized expert on the strategic convergence of AI, CRM, and many cloud technologies that are transforming the future of service and customer experience.

What will define AI success in 2026? As organizations move from early experiments to enterprise-wide deployments, 2026 will separate the pilots that stall from the initiatives that truly scale and create sufficient value. On our next episode of the inService Podcast Live, we take a look at the top predictions that will define the next year of AI adoption, and practical strategies to help organizations turn experimentation into measurable impact.Join us on Thursday, December 4th, at 12pm EST as host John Carroll sits down with Tas Hirani, Aquant’s Director of Revenue Operations and Enablement. Using real-world examples, they’ll explore the practical steps that can fuel AI’s biggest predictions: how to align stakeholders across service and IT, embed change management into daily workflows, and connect AI initiatives to both ROI and ROE. Listeners will leave with informed directions to navigate the AI landscape in 2026 and turn experimentation into operational value.

For service leaders, understanding the perspectives of frontline teams is critical to improving all areas of the business. But knowing what questions to ask and how to act on that feedback can be challenging, especially across complex, global organizations.Harold Heald, Associate Vice President, AFO Service Contact Centers for Agilent Technologies joins us on the next episode of the inService™ Podcast Live to discuss his organization’s journey capturing and utilizing the “voice of” the personas involved in the service experience. He will share how they have used it to support leadership decisions, technology investments, AI adoption, and staffing strategies across global service operations. Tune in on November 20th at 12pm EST to explore practical strategies for translating the voice of the frontline into targeted priorities, meaningful actions, fostering engagement, and balancing compliance with valuable innovation in complex service environments.Harold Heald leads the Americas Service Contact Centers for Agilent Technologies. Harold started in service as a Field Service Engineer with Dako, later acquired by Agilent. He went on to service as Regional Manager of the Americas for the Diagnostic Service team, and later as the Global Associate VP for the Biomolecular Service Organization helping to integrate several recent acquisitions. He completed Agilent’s Executive Leadership program in 2017. Harold served 10 years in the United States Marine Corps, working in Personnel Administration and as an Aviation Electrician, during that time he spent five years volunteering with the Young Marines of the Marine Corps League. Harold has a master’s in project management and recently earned his PMP certification.

Service leaders talk a lot about outcomes, but few see the numbers behind them quite like the Chief Financial Officer. Finance and accounting may be the language of business, but the real value comes from translating that knowledge into tangible actions that help the business succeed.Tune into the inService™ Podcast Live, Brian Christiansen, President of StationServ, shares what 20 years as a CFO with a strong operational focus have taught him about leading service organizations to success. Join us as Brian reflects on how connecting financial insights to frontline actions creates stronger performance and better customer experiences. He’ll discuss how to design service models for profitability and growth, balance ROI with long-term customer trust, and build cultures where teams understand how their daily work drives both business results and customer satisfaction.Currently the President of StationServ, Brian Christiansen has over 20 years of senior leadership experience, he has guided companies through growth, acquisitions, and performance turnarounds, delivering measurable gains in profitability, productivity, and customer experience by uniting financial discipline with frontline execution.

What can service leaders in EMEA and the Americas learn from each other about innovation, scaling, and staying ahead of customer expectations? Join us as we sit down with Jürgen Plessing, Executive Board Member of the Association for Services Management International (AFSMI). We’ll discuss the evolving landscape of service management across regions. From operational priorities to the challenges and opportunities shaping service organizations in EMEA and the Americas, Jürgen shares his perspectives on what’s driving change and how leaders can respond with agility.Whether you lead service teams, drive field operations, or shape customer experience strategies, this episode offers practical takeaways to navigate regional nuances, anticipate market shifts, and strengthen your organization’s performance on a global scale.Jürgen Plessing is an experienced program management expert with over 15 years of international experience in service leadership for major industrial manufacturers in Germany and Switzerland. As Head of Service, he implemented global service and logistics structures for demining and defence equipment and optimized component lifecycles for demanding field conditions (MineWolf Systems AG). He developed and introduced a comprehensive service strategy that transformed the service organization into a profit center and created a remote monitoring software for machine performance in remote minefields (AHWI Maschinenbau GmbH). He established a new project and service structure in Cuba, designed a long-term service strategy, and successfully aligned international stakeholders to deliver sustainable after-sales growth (PRINOTH AG). Jürgen has been serving on the Board of the Association for Services Management International (AFSMI) since 2024, contributing his expertise to advancing service excellence and leadership development across industries.