3 Key Insights from SSOW London 2024

This October, SSON hosted the 24^th edition of Shared Services & Outsourcing Week London, which culminated to three days of expert insights, riveting discussions, and innovative presentations. Whether you were unable to attend in person, or are looking for a refresher, let us delve into the top takeaways from this year’s conference.

1. GBS continues to shift from cost arbitrage to value driver.

According to the State of the Shared Services & Outsourcing Industry Global Market Report 2024, establishing the SSO/GBS as a key value driver was a key priority for 2024, as SSO/GBS targets exhibited a broad approach, increasingly focused on core business support. While cost was still the top priority (at 87%), over a third of organizations noted a collection of ten different targets including Customer Experience and business support.

This shift from cost arbitrage to value driver was echoed by this year’s SSOW London event. For example, Manoj Kalra, Global Head of Group Business Services & Senior Vice President at dsm-firmenich, provided insights into the journey from traditional SSO to an advanced Global Enterprise Services (GES) framework. His session, “Building Your Enterprise Transformation Wakanda”, highlighted the evolving role of GBS from a cost centre to strategic asset through innovation, strategic technology investments, and future-proofing measures.

The session urged delegates to think bigger than their predecessors, SSO/GBS are no longer simply process “executors” but now play a key role in broader enterprise strategies. This involves strong technical integration, cross-functional and regional alignment, and robust metrics to streamline service delivery models.

Towards the end of the conference, “The Million Dollar Question” fireside chats revisited the evolving role of SSO/GBS. The invaluable discussions highlighted the expansion beyond traditional GBS scope, including functions such as Commercial, Research & Development, and Supply Chain. This scope expansion enables seamless integration across the value chain, positioning the SSO/GBS as a strategic business partner. However, the changing role of SSO/GBS means agility is more crucial now than ever before. Building flexible decision-making capabilities enables organizations to efficiently respond to changing business needs and drive enterprise-wide value.

As such, the GBS industry is undergoing immense transformation, moving from cost efficiency to agility, innovation and value-add. Sessions at SSOW London highlighted how GBS leaders are embracing the future of shared services to fuel widespread growth.

2. Actionable AI is on the rise (particularly within Finance.)

Day one of the conference welcomed the insightful keynote presentation “From AI to ROI: Practical Applications of AI in Finance.” The session truly set the tone for subsequent discussions surrounding AI, shifting focus from theoretical discussion to practical applications of the technology.

Bob Booth, CPSO at Basware, and Peter Sowrey, Former CPO at Centrica, grounded the presentation with robust data. Drawing from the AI to ROI Research Study 2024, the pair highlighted how CFOs are mainly concerned with how quickly they can measure, monetize, and deliver value from AI. Key drivers for CFOs include greater cost efficiency (55%), AI and technological innovation (45%), and improving existing infrastructure (48%). In short, organizations are no longer looking for the potential of AI-enabled processes, they are ready to realize its value.

The most fruitful use cases for AI implementation appear in Accounts Payable (AP), Accounts Receivable, Compliance, and Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A). Currently, 85% of leaders have seen significant ROI such as faster fraud detection, accurate forecasting, and improved employee satisfaction. This sentiment was echoed within a later session, “Empowering Finance with AI: Art of the Possible.” Inga Donets, Modern Finance Corporate Champion and Juan Stein, Global BPO Governance Lead at Microsoft delved into best practices for AI-powered finance.

“AI is more than a new tool; it is as big as the internet or mobile phones. It completely changes how we interact with financial data.”

Organizations looking to implement AI within their finance functions must remain agile and embrace consistent change. The technology promises such widespread change that failure is almost a guarantee, so fail fast and reconfigure faster. This approach relies on a culture of continuous learning, which can be cultivated through increased collaboration, training non-technical personnel to utilize AI, and even developing an AI Center of Excellence.

The conference provided delegates with key use cases for AI implementation, identifying finance as a prime opportunity for achieving ROI. Moving away from the theoretical, sessions revealed where to implement AI, how to successfully leverage it, and what value can be achieved.

3. An end-to-end approach remains a challenge for organisations.

The State of the Shared Services & Outsourcing Industry Global Market Report 2024 identified the top three elements that catalyst successful process optimization: having the right talent (60%), the right tools (56%), and the ability to optimize end-to-end (53%). Overcoming siloes has been a key focus throughout 2024, however achieving a holistic overview of operations remains a challenge. Data siloes, functional siloes, even geographical siloes can be detrimental to process excellence, so SSOW London tackled the topic head on.

The conference’s End-to-End Process Excellence, Automation & AI track covered a plethora of best practices for process optimization. The panel discussion “It’s Time to Gain Hard Yards on Efficiency- Process Design, Standardisation, Automation & Excellence” acted as a strong foundation for the track with insights from industry experts: Nadine Fischer, Director of GBS, Strategy, Governance, and Compliance at adidas, Phil Priest, Head of GBS at Rolls Royce, and Bjorn Dumortier, Director of Finance Operations at Zalando.

The panel highlighted that the key lies in balancing immediate operational excellence with a vision for long-term, continuous improvement. GBS organizations are well-placed to lead this charge, leveraging their expertise in operational execution whilst fostering innovation and engagement across processes. By harmonizing innovative thinking with operational execution, GBS leaders should ensure back-end processes fit for purpose to enable seamless front-end operations.

However, to ensure success, GBS leaders must ensure strong alignment across the various GBS units and the wider enterprise. Regular interaction with stakeholders, ensures alignment and a better understanding of process performance. Regular performance reviews, strategic KPIs, and leader engagement were all highlighted as best practices to maintain accountability and alignment.

Beyond this, modern tools such as process mining are instrumental in identifying inefficiencies and creating "happy paths" for users. Leaders must focus on eliminating redundancies, standardizing operations, and automating where possible to streamline workflows. The judicious use of technology accelerates transformation and brings clarity to complex processes.

In essence, end-to-end optimization relies on strategic alignment, technology, and thoughtful GBS leadership. By fostering collaboration, leveraging tools, and maintaining a balance between strategy and execution, organizations can achieve efficient operations that drive immense value.

This is only a glimpse into the unmissable insights from the event. To get the full experience, please join us for SSOW Europe 2025, in Lisbon, Portugal, as we celebrate 25 years of the event!