{"id":7930,"date":"2026-02-27T04:05:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T10:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/?p=7930"},"modified":"2026-02-27T06:26:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T12:26:14","slug":"ai-transformation-global-business-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/ai-transformation-global-business-services\/","title":{"rendered":"The 3 Structural Shifts Will Define AI Transformation in GBS and Shared Services","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Global Business Services (GBS) has moved far beyond its origins as a transactional cost-saving model. Approximately 85% of organizations are committed to the GBS model, whether fully deployed or transitioning within the next three to five years, according to the recently released SSON report \u201cState of the Shared Services and Outsourcing Industry 2026.\u201d<\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-flat ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"cursor:pointer\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/ai-transformation-global-business-services\/#the-expanding-scope-of-gbs-beyond-transactions\" >The Expanding Scope of GBS: Beyond Transactions<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/ai-transformation-global-business-services\/#the-reality-of-ai-adoption-ambition-outpaces-execution\" >The Reality of AI Adoption: Ambition Outpaces Execution<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/ai-transformation-global-business-services\/#the-future-of-gbs-digital-engine-of-the-enterprise\" >The Future of GBS: Digital Engine of the Enterprise<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/ai-transformation-global-business-services\/#final-perspective\" >Final Perspective<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/ai-transformation-global-business-services\/#frequently-asked-questions-faq\" >Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p><strong>The mandate has evolved:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>From cost arbitrage \u2192 to enterprise value creation<\/li>\n<li>From transactional processing \u2192 to analytics and decision enablement<\/li>\n<li>From back-office support \u2192 to digital transformation leadership<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For finance leaders, particularly those overseeing Order-to-Cash (O2C), this shift elevates AI and autonomous capabilities from experimentation and theory to strategic necessity, according to Naomi Secor, global managing director at SSON.<\/p>\n<p>That said,<a href=\"\/ai-for-finance-podcast\/episodes\/the-future-is-now-agentic-ai-and-the-rapid-shift-in-gbs-order-to-cash-operations\/\"> Secor noted during an early 2026 episode of the Emagia AI For Finance Podcast<\/a> that maturity regarding autonomous finance-related project planning and implementation remains uneven: Ambition may be high, but adoption is still in pilot phases.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"the-expanding-scope-of-gbs-beyond-transactions\"><\/span><strong>The Expanding Scope of GBS: Beyond Transactions<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>According to SSON 2026 industry report data, there has been a significant broadening in scope, one where these operations are no longer considered \u201ctransactional finance.\u201d They are now categorized more as: decision-enabling infrastructure. Consider the following statistics:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>~45% of GBS organizations now provide data or business analytics services.<\/li>\n<li>~55% manage enterprise master data.<\/li>\n<li>~75% maintain<a href=\"\/products\/autonomous-order-to-cash\/\"> Order-to-Cash<\/a> as a core focus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>For CFOs and Controllers, this means GBS operations are no longer evaluated solely on efficiency metrics. They are measured on:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cash-flow optimization<\/li>\n<li>Customer experience<\/li>\n<li>Revenue enablement<\/li>\n<li>Enterprise data integrity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As the scope widens, automation and AI developments \u2013 including Agentic AI \u2013 must become foundational capabilities rather than incremental enhancements, Secor argues.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"the-reality-of-ai-adoption-ambition-outpaces-execution\"><\/span><strong>The Reality of AI Adoption: Ambition Outpaces Execution<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Despite strong executive interest in generative and agentic AI, most organizations remain in early adoption stages.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Secor\u2019s and her colleagues\u2019 key research observations include:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Automation maturity remains \u201cmedium\u201d level across many GBS environments.<\/li>\n<li>Agentic AI initiatives remain largely in \u201cpilot phases\u2019 for now.<\/li>\n<li>No organizations report fully mature, end-to-end autonomous Order-to-Cash processes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This reflects a critical gap: AI cannot compensate for fragmented data, unclear ownership, or broken processes. Attempting to deploy agentic AI without foundational process standardization \u2013 and often without the assistance of a third-party expert \u2013 risks amplifying inefficiencies rather than resolving them.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"the-future-of-gbs-digital-engine-of-the-enterprise\"><\/span><strong>The Future of GBS: Digital Engine of the Enterprise<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Over the next several years, Global Business Services will move decisively from being an efficient engine to becoming the digital control tower of the enterprise. The organizations that succeed will not merely automate processes \u2014 they will architect intelligence into the operating model itself.<\/p>\n<p>Secor predicts three structural shifts will define this transformation:<\/p>\n<h3><strong>1. Acceleration of Automation Maturity<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Repeated research iterations show increasing AI adoption. Practical use cases will replace theoretical pilots. Rather than automating isolated tasks, GBS organizations will increasingly connect data, workflows, and decision logic across end-to-end processes.<\/p>\n<p>This means Order-to-Cash will no longer operate as a sequence of discrete activities (billing, collections, disputes). Instead, it will function as an interconnected intelligence layer that dynamically prioritizes actions based on risk, behavior, and working capital impact.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>2. GBS as the Digital Transformation Catalyst<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Boards and executive committees will increasingly expect GBS to lead\u2014not follow\u2014enterprise transformation.<\/p>\n<p>In the coming years, GBS will evolve into a strategic sandbox for AI experimentation and deployment. Because shared services already manage standardized high-volume processes, they provide an ideal environment to test intelligent automation safely before scaling enterprise wide.<\/p>\n<p>This shift elevates the role of GBS leadership. Rather than focusing primarily on cost management, leaders will need to demonstrate their ability to enable innovation, accelerate transformation roadmaps, and deliver measurable business outcomes tied to revenue, risk, and resilience when evaluated.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>3. Shift from Cost Center to Innovation Hub<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The narrative around GBS is undergoing a permanent change. Cost reduction is no longer the headline \u2014 it is table stakes. GBS becomes the connective tissue across finance, HR, procurement, and analytics.<\/p>\n<p>For Order-to-Cash leaders, this presents an opportunity: With autonomous finance capabilities freeing capacity from manual tasks, finance teams can shift toward advisory roles \u2014 serving as internal consultants to business units.<\/p>\n<p>In this model, GBS becomes not just the operational backbone, but the value architect of the enterprise.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"final-perspective\"><\/span><strong>Final Perspective<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>GBS is no longer a support function. It is rapidly becoming the digital engine of the enterprise.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AI will not replace finance leadership. It will amplify organizations that combine:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Clean data<\/li>\n<li>Clear governance<\/li>\n<li>Structured adoption<\/li>\n<li>Workforce transformation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Granted, this evolution of GBS and shared services hinges heavily on workforce transformation, almost as much as technological advancements themselves, according to Secor. Top emerging skill priorities must include improved and more focused problem solving, digital proficiency, process orchestration, and analytical reasoning.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, for CFOs and GBS leaders, the question is no longer focused on *if* AI will shape Order-to-Cash.<\/p>\n<p>It is whether their operating model is prepared to harness it.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"frequently-asked-questions-faq\"><\/span><strong>Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>1. Is AI adoption in GBS accelerating?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Yes. Executive commitment is strong, and pilot activity is widespread. However, full maturity remains limited, especially in end-to-end autonomous O2C.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>2. What is the biggest barrier to Agentic AI in finance?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Data fragmentation and governance immaturity. AI amplifies both strengths and weaknesses in underlying processes.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>3. What are the most practical early wins for O2C leaders?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Collections prioritization, dispute routing, workflow orchestration, and credit risk modeling offer strong early ROI. Much of these potential successes, however, will be harder to achieve without a thoroughly planned AI and autonomous finance road map and a commitment to upskilling staff (as well as getting their buy-in) so they are prepared to leverage solutions to their fullest capabilities.<\/p>\n<p>Discover more on this topic by reviewing the Emagia AI For Finance Podcast Episode \u201cThe Future is Now: Agentic AI and The Rapid Shift in GBS O2C Operations\u201d featuring guest Naomi Secor. The episode can be accessed by clicking here: <a href=\"\/ai-for-finance-podcast\/episodes\/the-future-is-now-agentic-ai-and-the-rapid-shift-in-gbs-order-to-cash-operations\/\">Agentic AI and the Rapid Shift in GBS Order-to-Cash Operations<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Global Business Services (GBS) has moved far beyond its origins as a transactional cost-saving model. Approximately 85% of organizations are committed to the GBS model, whether fully deployed or transitioning within the next three to five years, according to the recently released SSON report \u201cState of the Shared Services and Outsourcing Industry 2026.\u201d The mandate &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/ai-transformation-global-business-services\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The 3 Structural Shifts Will Define AI Transformation in GBS and Shared Services<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":1,"featured_media":7929,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[205],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-autonomous-finance"],"acf":[],"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7930"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7938,"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7930\/revisions\/7938"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}