From Cost Center to Value Engine: Steve Rudderham, Ecolab

From Cost Center to Value Engine: Steve Rudderham, Ecolab

Many GBS leaders still lead with "we save money," but is that still the right pitch? In this episode, Steve Rudderham, SVP GBS at Ecolab, joins us to talk about the shift from cost center to value engine. Drawing on his experience leading GBS organizations at Carrier, AkzoNobel, Kellogg's, and now Ecolab, Steve explains why "we save money" is the flip-phone version of the conversation, where agentic AI is already moving the needle on revenue and customer outcomes, and his honest take on the "our data isn't ready" excuse.  In this episode, we cover:  * What separates a world-class GBS from a transactional service center — and how that shift shows up internally at Ecolab  * Why automation doesn't have to mean headcount reduction, and what the role of people looks like in an Agentic GBS  * Accountability in an agentic world: who owns the outcome when AI agents act autonomously, and when "good enough" data is good enough to start

The Big Data Conversation: Vandana Khanna, MetLife

Data quality isn't the most glamorous topic in enterprise AI — but it might be the most important one. In this episode, Sally Fletcher [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-fletcher-64853122/], Head of Thought Leadership & Community, Hypatos [https://hypatos.ai/], sits down with Vandana Khanna [https://www.linkedin.com/in/vandanakhanna/], a global finance and technology leader at MetLife who is leading the company's Finance Modernization and Digital Transformation initiative. With experience spanning insurance, consumer goods, telecom, and retail, Vandana brings a rare blend of strategic vision and operational reality to one of AI's most underestimated challenges.  We dig into what "AI-ready" actually means in practice, why bad data is so costly and so hard to catch, and how leaders can navigate the politics of data ownership inside large organizations. From the minimum data-quality bar for a successful AI implementation to the structural changes that would have the greatest downstream impact, this is a candid conversation about the unglamorous groundwork that determines whether AI succeeds or fails.  If you're under pressure to move fast with AI, this episode is essential listening.  If you want to learn more about how to implement Agentic AI, download our whitepaper here. [https://hypatos.ai/whitepaper/how-to-build-an-agentic-gbs]

Getting the Buy-In and Downstream Impact from AI Initiatives, Sefa Soybir EY

Everyone's running AI pilots, but how many are actually delivering real business impact? In this episode, we're joined by Sefa Soybir [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sefa-soybir/], Senior Manager and Agentic GBS Lead at EY, [https://www.ey.com/en_gl] where he helps organisations move beyond the hype and embed agentic AI into real business processes.   We get into what separates a genuinely compelling AI use case from one that just looks good in a demo, and the criteria Sefa recommends before greenlighting any agentic initiative. We also tackle one of the hardest parts of AI transformation — realising the downstream impact. Automation rates and productivity stats are one thing, but how do those numbers actually translate into business value? And what do you do with the headcount you've released?  We'll also cover the human side: smoothing out change management, bringing employees on the journey, and securing executive buy-in for something as ambiguous and fast-moving as agentic AI. If you're trying to build credible AI initiatives that stick, this one's for you.

Reality Check: Exploring the Data Behind the GBS AI Hype

The AI conversation in Global Business Services is loud; but how much of it is grounded in reality? In this episode, we sit down with two of the most authoritative voices in the GBS industry: Naomi Secor and Barbara Hodge, SSON Research & Analytics [https://www.sson-analytics.com/]. Together, bringing over four decades of experience tracking the trends and transformations shaping shared services worldwide.   They're here to cut through the noise and give us the data-backed truth on where GBS organisations actually stand on AI maturity and adoption. We get into the real debate around Agentic AI — what it means for service delivery models, whether GBS organisations are genuinely reducing headcount, and what the research says about how teams and skills are evolving on the ground.    If you've been wondering what's hype and what's real, this is the episode for you.   Throughout the episode, we reference the following:  SSON R&A’s State of the Shared Services Industry 2026 [https://www.sson-analytics.com/shared-services-gbs-best-practices/reports/state-of-the-shared-services-outsourcing-industry-global-market-report-2026-2]  Intelligent Automation Universe [https://www.sson-analytics.com/products/intelligent-automation-universe]  World’s Best GBS Award [https://www.sson-analytics.com/worlds-best-gbs-award]

How to Scale Agentic AI

As enterprises shift from AI pilots to full-scale deployment in 2026, the real challenges emerge — and 40% of agentic AI projects are predicted to fail. In this episode of GBS Rewired, host Sally Fletcher sits down with CK Taneja, SVP of Transformation and Innovation at Northern Trust, to unpack the operational, governance, and architectural challenges of scaling agentic AI; and how to ensure your organization beats the odds.