^{3 December}:

8:00–9:00 Registration and Coffees/Teas
9:00 – 9:15 Welcome and Opening Comments.

9:15 – 9:45 From Cost Centres to Value Creators: The evolution of Shared Services globally, and how KSA’s corporates are driving further changes.
Speaker: Romek Lubaczewski.

9:45 – 10:30 Lessons from Building a World-Class SSC in Riyadh

Panelists: 3 KSA-execs with experience in creating SSCs in KSA.

• Thamir Alhammad, Vice Governor, Consumer Affairs, Saudi Electricity Regulatory Authority (SERA). Before joining SERA, Thamir held multiple leadership roles at Solutions by STC, including Chief Business Diversification Officer, Chief Business Outsourcing Officer, and Telecom Business Unit Vice President. Under his leadership, he drove multi-billion SAR revenue growth, and launched Saudi Arabia’s first nearshore outsourcing center.

Moderator: Wissam Abdelsamad, Strategy& (Middle East).

10:30 – 11:00 Coffees, Teas, and Conversations.

11:00 – 12:00 Case-studies from large European corporates (with advanced GBS operations)

Panelists:

• Tomasz Horacek, Head of Centre, Board Member; Orlen Shared Services Centre (Poland)
• Michael Mazar, Head of MassMutual Romania (Romania)

Orlen: Saudi Aramco holds a significant strategic presence in Poland-based Orlen operations—especially in refining, wholesale, aviation fuel, and crude supply.

MassMutual. MassMutual Romania was launched in late 2020, growing from 0 to 550 employees in 4 years, despite the pandemic, boosting the Group’s operational excellence and optimizing costs. The captive GBS has contributed to MassMutual’s digital transformation and advanced technology innovation across the global enterprise.

12:00 – 12:45 AI-applied to Business Services sector: Case studies from finance, HR, and operations

Speaker: tba

12:45 – 13:45 Prayer, Lunch and Networking Break.

13:45–14:30 Innovative Technologies driving efficiencies in the Industry. A “toolbox” of technologies and AI-tools driving digital transformation.

Speaker: Rakesh Sangani, CEO and Founder, Proservartner.

Proservartner, based in London with offices in Riyadh, is an international consulting firm, helping clients solve their operational
challenges through automation (including robotics); shared services and outsourcing models; and improvements to processes, systems and data quality.

14:30 – 15:00 Coffees, Teas, and Conversations.

15:00 – 16:00 Roundtable Breakout Sessions – choose 1 of 3 specific topics:

• Location Spotlights – Focus on 2 cities/regions outside Riyadh that are attractive to Saudi corporates considering alternative locations for expansion and business services support operations).
• Business Services Pricing Models – what works and what doesn’t. What are the benefits of different BPO/GBS model for the customers.
• AI Applications for Business Processes: Case-studies and examples.
  

16:00 – 16:30 Closing Keynoter: Saudi Arabia as the GCC Hub for Global Business Services – What Will It Take?

^{4 December}:

8:00–9:00 Registration and Coffees/Teas
9:00 – 9:15 Welcome and Opening Comments.
9:15– 10: 00 Opening Keynoter: BPO vs. Captive Shared Services. Advantages and Disadvantages

2 Panelists: a BPO Service provider and a GBS Director.

10:00 – 10:30 KSA’s Public-Sector Initiatives (consolidation and optimization to boost service-levels and efficiencies)

10:30 – 11:00 Coffees, Teas, and Conversations.

11:00 – 11:45 AI-applied to Business Services sector: More Case studies from finance, HR, and operations

Speakers: tba

11:45 – 12:30 Additional 2 Case-studies from large European corporates (with advanced GBS operations)

Panelists:

Peter Mitchell, Global People Services Transformation Lead, STMicrolectronics (Switzerland)

Mirta Hegedusic, thyssenKrupp

STMicroelectronics. Based in Switzerland, STMicrolelectronics is a global semiconductor leader that designs, develops, and manufatures a broad range of products, including microcontrollers, sensors, and power seminconductors.

ThyssenKrupp Group is a diversified industrial and technology conglomerate offering engineering, materials, and service solutions across sectors including automotive, construction, energy, and industrial plant technologies.

12:30 – 13:45 Prayer, Lunch and Networking Break.

Plus: World Cup 2034 in KSA – a 15-minute update about Leadership, and the Economic Impact of the World Cup.

13:45 – 14:45 What’s next? Trends, projects in the pipeline

14:45 – 15:30 Talent Development: Real Skills needed for GBS Leadership.

15:30 -16:30 Closing Keynote: Saudi’s Vision 2030 – and what it means to the Saudi Business Services sector.