2025 is an era of transformation for Global Business Services. Whether it’s operating model transformation, process transformation, or digital transformation, expectations are high. We expect these initiatives to dramatically reduce operating costs, improve cross-functional alignment, and increase customer loyalty. However, more often than not, these transformations fail - and one of the primary reasons is the experience. While technology may be in place, the actual work - how it flows across teams and systems - remains fragmented. With that in mind, SSON invited experience and transformation expert Christophe Martel, CEO of FOUNT Global, to talk about what’s missing - and what needs to change. FOUNT believes “The future of work is flow.” Their platform surfaces friction in how work gets done, using input from employees to help organizations break down silos, remove hidden blockers, and improve productivity across complex environments. 🎙️ In this episode, Christophe explores how leading enterprises are rethinking transformation - not just by collecting more data, but by focusing on how people actually experience the work. Note: During the episode we talk about an upcoming webinar Fount Global are hosting with PepsiCo and TI people on the 9th July 2025. If you are keen to join, sign up here.
This episode is the 3rd in our careers focused series, recorded on-site at Shared Services & Outsourcing Week America, SSON’s largest event. The event bought together over 1100 participants, 100 exhibitors and 200 thought leaders. I took the opportunity to interview some of the shared services leaders onsite about their career-paths. In this episode, we are featuring Lorena Espinosa, O2C Value Creation Consultant, Mars, and CK Taneja, SVP Transformation, Innovation and Resiliency, Northern Trust. During the episode Lorena speaks about her experience with SSON's GBS Certification, if you're interested in learning more about this or registering for the next cohort, the information can be found here. As a sidenote, both these interviews were recorded onsite at our flagship summit Shared Services & Outsourcing Week North America, so there may be some slight background noise! If you have any feedback, someone you want to nominate to be profiled or a topic you would love me to cover then please add me on LinkedIn or email me at sally.fletcher@ssonetwork.com And of course if you like what you hear then please check out the agenda for our next Shared Services & Outsourcing Week North America in September and our Finance Transformation Virtual Summit, 10-11 June.
This episode is the 2nd in our careers focused series, recorded on-site at Shared Services & Outsourcing Week America, SSON’s largest event. The event bought together over 1100 participants, 100 exhibitors and 200 thought leaders. I took the opportunity to interview some of the shared services leaders onsite about their career-paths. In this episode, we are featuring Adam Holmes, SVP Head of Strategic Operations and Global Communications, Publicis Re:Sources and Carolina Okrongli, Chief of Staff, Nokia Business Services. As a sidenote, both these interviews were recorded onsite at our flagship summit Shared Services & Outsourcing Week North America, so there may be some slight background noise! If you have any feedback, someone you want to nominate to be profiled or a topic you would love me to cover then please add me on LinkedIn or email me at sally.fletcher@ssonetwork.com And of course if you like what you hear then please check out the agenda for our next Shared Services & Outsourcing Week North America in September and our Finance Transformation Virtual Summit, 10-11 June. Adam Holmes will be speaking at the Finance Transformation event on the topic of Making Change Count: Why the Majority of Your Memos Fail and How to Achieve True Stakeholder Engagement! so be sure to tune in!
Last month I was lucky enough to go to Shared Services & Outsourcing Week America, SSON’s largest event attracting over 1100 participants, 100 exhibitors and 200 thought leaders. I took the opportunity to interview some of the shared services leaders onsite about their career-paths. Over the next few weeks we will be releasing several episodes profiling shared services professionals with different career paths, to hopefully inspire you and demonstrate what a shared services career is all about. On today’s podcast we’re featuring Kendra Lovitt, Director of Relationship Management and Governance, McKesson GBS and Kiran Mann, CEO, Brar’s. They’ll be giving insight into what their job entails and the skills you need to hone to work successfully in their roles. If you have any feedback, someone you want to nominate to be profiled or a topic you would love me to cover then please add me on LinkedIn or email me at sally.fletcher@ssonetwork.com. And of course if you like what you hear and you want to be part of our next Shared Services Week, then the links are below: Shared Services & Outsourcing Week North America. Shared Services & Outsourcing Week Europe.
The shared services model has typically been one of cost-savings, with organizations saving millions of dollars by offshoring work to low-cost locations. However, as the model has become more mature, creating dramatic cost-savings becomes more difficult – as the changes that produce results (such as standardization and centralization) have already been done. At the same time, many organizations are looking to their shared service centre to provide additional value, this can come through data-backed insights, taking on new-services or driving revenue – which is what we are going to talk about in this episode of the podcast! Joining SSON on the podcast is Priyanka Grover, Go to market lead for Recievables Automation at FIS. Priyanka will share her insight into how you can drive revenue, combat fraud and enable cost-savings via AI and process improvement. For more great content from FIS see below: Podcast: Future of O2C Trends & Insights Whitepaper: The Definitive Guide to Choosing Customer to Cash Software Market Report: Future of O2C Insights & Trends
As we head into 2025, the business world is transforming at lightning speed—we’re seeing new evolutions in the world of AI almost weekly, there is a huge and much needed focus on sustainability, a push for automation, and naturally, there is an incredibly dynamic political and economic environment, all which have an impact on GBS. They say forewarned is forearmed so in today’s episode, we’ll break down the Top Global Business Services Trends you need to watch to stay ahead of the curve. In order to help me explore the innovations, challenges, and opportunities shaping 2025, we invited Chazey Partners to be part of the episode. Joining me from Chazey are Phil Searle, CEO and Co-Founder, Lee Coulter, Chief Transformation Officer, Esteban Carrill, Executive Director, LATAM and Tim O'Donnell, SVP and CRO. Throughout the episode we reference Chazey’s report Transformation in the Age of AI, which you can download here.
Did you know that, according to SSON's State of the Industry Report 2024, over half of the SSO/GBS leverage outsourcing? However, the nuanced landscape of outsourcing can make talent management all the more difficult. So, in this week's episode, we delve into the critical talent management decisions shared services leaders face. We're joined by Brad Killinger, CEO of Sapience Analytics, who discusses the importance of leveraging analytics to thrive amidst today's macro talent challenges, and the transformative power of workforce analytics. If you enjoy this episode, please join us for our webinar with Bradley on how to Level Up Your SSO/GBS with the Power of Workforce Analytics.
In this week’s episode we delve into the future of order to cash and the trends you should be looking out for in the next 12 months. We’re joined by Keith Cowart, Global Market Owner, Automated Finance at FIS, who gives his expert advice on improving order-to-cash processes. This includes how to create a consumer-like experience, assessing customer-risk, artificial intelligence, and payments. Listen now for a short, snappy update on the O2C trends you need to be aware of. If you enjoy this episode, please join us for our webinar with Keith on Modernizing the Office of the CFO Through Finance Automation. You can also download the following whitepaper The Definitive Guide to Choosing Customer-to-Cash Software in 2025
This week we spoke with Karan R Bhatia, Head of GBS Asia Hub, Sanofi Consumer Healthcare. Sanofi recently set up a global business service center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which was a great success and able to grow quickly. In this episode Karan talks us through why Sanofi chose to set up in Malaysia, the challenges they overcame and how Karan’s own entrepreneurial spirit has been crucial in bringing innovation to the GBS. Karan will be speaking at Shared Services & Outsourcing Week Malaysia which is taking place on June 10-13 in KL. Listeners to SSO Next are able to access discounts the ticket price for the event by quoting SSONext when they register https://www.ssonetwork.com/events-ssomalaysia
There are hundreds of stories of the benefits and opportunities that lie within AI, but when it comes to practical, real-life use-cases, the list gets smaller very quickly. That’s why we were delighted to interview Jannette Perez, AVP Finance, L’Oréal and Nathanael L’Heureux, Chief Solutions Ambassador, Oversight, about L’Oréal’s recent AI implementation. In this episode our interviewees break-down their recent presentation at Shared Services & Outsourcing Week, giving the drivers, outcomes, and challenges of how they’re using AI within their travel & expense process. You can find out more about Oversight here.
This week’s episode provides something a bit different, a glimpse into SSON’s largest event Shared Services & Outsourcing Week North America. The event, which ran at the end of March, attracted over 150 speakers and 1000 attendees. For those of you who weren’t able to make it, we wanted to provide a sneak peek and some of the key takeaways from onsite. Note: Listeners to SSO Next are entitled to discounts of the ticket price for selected in-person events around the world by quoting the code SSO Next when they register. Details of upcoming events can be found here.
In this week's episode SSON talks to Wendy Walker, Solution Principal of Tax Information Reporting at Sovos, about IRS Modernization. Wendy unravells the always complicated world of tax and breaks down exactly what the latest IRS Modernization involves, how it will impact data protection and security, and the steps organizations should take to prepare for these changes. In the episode we reference the following e-Book and webinar which are great companions for this episode. See the links below to download and register. The IRS Modernization eBook Webinar: IRS Business Systems Modernization: Preparing Your Organization for Reporting Changes
This week we're talking to Jonathan Tam, Head of APAC People Services, foodpanda. Jonathan is an experienced People Leader with more than 20 years in Operations and Project Management. He has supported areas across Customer Service, Information Technology, Banking and Finance, and Human Resource Delivery. Jonathan will be speaking at SSON’s SSOW Philippines event which takes place on August 6-9 in Manila. Ahead of his session, we invited him to join us on the podcast to talk all things people. Jonathan will be speaking on the topic of – Employee Experience at Shared Services & Outsourcing Week Philippines. Listeners to SSO Next can access 10% off the ticket price for the event by quoting the code TENOFF when they book. Reach out to sally.fletcher@iqpc.de for more details.
Last month, SSON ran one of their most successful Shared Services & Outsourcing Week Europe’s ever! Over 900 shared services and outsourcing professionals joined together in sunny Lisbon to discuss everything from Generative AI to change management to process intelligence. In order to give you a flavour of the trends discussed, we asked 10 speakers for their top take-away from the conference. SSON’s next European event is held in London on the 14-16 October, with an incredible key-note, Lord Sebastian Coe of Olympics fame! Listeners to SSON Next can get 10% discount of the ticket price for this event by quoting the code SSONEXT10 when you register. You can check the website or email me at sally.fletcher@iqpc.de for more details. SSOW London
So, we’ve reached the time of year where we start looking forward to 2024, and examining how we spend our time, where our priorities should lie and what we’re aiming to change and achieve for the year ahead. This can be in terms of career goals or goals for your business. In order to kick start that conversation and provide some inspiration we invited Phil Searle, Founder of Chazey Partners, back on the podcast – Phil shares what he thinks are key trends and themes we should be focusing on for the year ahead. You can find out more about Chazey Partners here. Note: All listeners to SSO Next are eligible for 20% of the cost of the ticket price for select live SSON events. The next up is our SSO Week 2024. To find out more message me, Sally Fletcher on LinkedIn or check out our event website.
In this week’s episode we talk to Cristina Duta, Director Intelligent Automation, Global Business Services, Aecom, about the topic of How To Embrace A “We Are All Digital” Ethos Through Citizen Developers & Low-Code Solutions. We discuss how, in 2023, the boundaries between IT and the business are rapidly diminishing. The truth is that now “we are all digital!.” The growth of low code/ no-code technology, increase in digitally skilled employees and use of technology in our personal lives, means that oftentimes your workforce are capable of supporting digitization in a much bigger way than before. This session discusses how to embrace a “we are all digital” concept throughout your workforce and what it can lead to.
Each year SSON run our Shared Services and GBS State of the Industry Survey. The survey provides crucial benchmarks on everything from people strategy to intelligent automation to what's driving shared services today. In this episode, SSON Research & Analytics, Chief Analyst, Barbara Hodge sits down with Tom Bangemann, Head of Data Development and Insight, to share their top 5 take-aways from last year's report and what to look for in the next. To take part in the 2024 survey click here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/38ZFDZ6 Listeners of SSO Next can now get 20% of the ticket price for selected live events across the Americas, by quoting the code SSONEXT when you register or speak with one of our reps. For more details or to take advantage of this offer message Sally Fletcher on LinkedIn or by email at sally.fletcher@ssonetwork.com or visit our event website https://www.ssonetwork.com/events-shared-services-week
This week Phil Searle, CEO and Chief Transformation Officer, Chazey Partners returns to the podcast along with Neil Spiers, SVP Global Business Services, Herbalife. In this conversation, the two dive into their lengthy partnership shedding light on “the art of the possible” in GBS. This includes, how Herbalife are now playing an increasingly strategic role in supporting the achievement of business goals and transformation agendas. In the podcast we cover their service management framework, project governance structure and progress with Intelligent Automation. Note: Listeners to SSO Next can get 20% of the ticket price for upcoming live events by quoting the code SSONEXT (this applies only to selected events, gold and platinum tier packages). Catch Chazey Partners at IA Week, in Atlanta https://www.ssonetwork.com/events-intelligent-automation-event Or visit their website https://chazeypartners.com
In this episode we'll be talking about introducing Artificial Intelligence into the audit function. And about how this concept is about enhancement of human skill not its displacement. Machine learning isn’t mimicry of human intelligence. It teaches machines to perform tasks and then to progressively improve their performance. When we use AI and ML in the finance function we can expect speed, inexhaustible functionality, and constantly evolving improvements in data insights. Helping to ultimately make the finance function more visibly productive today and more influential tomorrow. I hope you enjoy this conversartion. To hear more from Oversight, register for our AP Automation Digital Summit which takes place 1-2 November, online. https://www.ssonetwork.com/events-ap-automation-november
This week we're delighted to bring you an exclusive look at one of our top sessions from last month's online event, the Intelligent Automation World Series. In the session we spoke to Shail Khiyara, CEO, VOCAL , Amol Rajamane, Global Digital Automation Technology Leader, DuPont and Melanie Dunbeck, Automation Strategy & Enablement Lead, Kelly Services, about their vision and experience with Generative AI. As mentioned in the intro, if you are interested in the Generative AI bootcamps that SSON is running for the Finance & Accounting and HR functions, then you can view the agenda here https://www.ssonetwork.com/events-shared-services-week/agenda/day-one or enquire at sally.fletcher@ssonetwork.com.