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Poland has quietly become one of the world's most sophisticated outsourcing markets — and most US firms still haven't taken a serious look. In this episode, IAOP sits down with Wiktor Doktor, founder of Pro Progressio and a leading voice in Poland's BPO and GBS ecosystem, to explore what makes Poland a compelling — and often underestimated — destination for global service delivery. With over 500,000 professionals working across 1,000+ centers in 14+ cities, Poland offers the scale of a mature market with the energy of one still on the rise. Wiktor breaks down the regional strengths, the talent pipeline, what companies get wrong when entering the market, and why the Tri-City region is drawing increasing attention from global buyers. We also preview what Wiktor will be bringing to Outsourcing World Summit 2026 in Chicago (April 28–30) as part of IAOP's Know Before You Go panel — and how IAOP members can access complimentary tickets to experience Poland firsthand at the Follow the Leaders conference, May 27–28. If you're thinking about European delivery, risk diversification, or simply want to understand where the smart money is looking next — this conversation is your starting point.

The Road Ahead: Expert Insights on Overcoming 2025’s Biggest Challenges from IAOP's Global Advisors Moderated by Mark Voytek, COP, Chief Advisor of Thought Leadership, IAOP, Founder and Managing Partner, Voytechnology Partners and Member of IAOP's Leadership Hall of Fame Panelists: Todd Hintze, Partner, Wavestone; Anupam Govil, COP, Managing Partner, Avasant; Juan Coronado, Managing Director, Deloitte Consulting; Boris Abezgauz, Partner, Strategy&, part of the PwC network; Megh Desai, Managing Director, KPMG As we step into an era marked by rapid changes and uncertainties, the role of strategic guidance has never been more crucial. This panel brings together top global advisors from IAOP to delve into the complexities of the current global landscape—spanning geopolitical shifts, economic fluctuations, technological revolutions, and workforce transformations. Experts will share invaluable insights on how businesses are navigating these turbulent waters, focusing on mitigating risks associated with outsourcing, adapting to AI-driven changes, addressing talent shortages, and complying with complex regulatory frameworks.

Inspiration Applied Kevin Parikh, COP, Chairman & CEO, Avasant, and Member of IAOP's Leadership Hall of Fame In today’s hyper-competitive and tech-driven world, the pace of innovation is accelerating at an unprecedented rate, reshaping industries and redefining how businesses operate. This keynote explores how organizations can harness the power of next-generation technologies to drive innovation, enhance productivity, and achieve sustained growth. It will delve into the application of these technologies to optimize sourcing strategies, unlock new levels of efficiency and innovation, and transition from traditional managed services to tech-enabled, outcome-based service delivery models. Additionally, the discussion will cover how enterprises can build resilience and adaptability to thrive in an evolving market shaped by cost pressures, talent shortages, and geopolitical risks. Attendees will gain actionable strategies for navigating the evolving outsourcing landscape, developing innovation-led sourcing models, and positioning their organizations for long-term success in a digital-first world. This session is essential for sourcing leaders and decision-makers aiming to leverage technological advancements for strategic advantage.

In this episode, Mark Voytek sits down with Suzanne Leopoldi-Nichols. Suzanne is an expert on Next-Gen Shared Services (NGSS) and Global Business Services (GBS).  She is a seasoned executive leader with an extensive background in transforming and optimizing GBS organizations across various industries.  With more than two decades of experience, Suzanne has established herself as a strategic visionary, driving change, innovation, and operational excellence.  Having led over 17,000 employees on six continents, Suzanne possesses a deep understanding of diverse cultural nuances and of navigating complex global operations.  Her GBS experience spans a vast array of functions, including brokerage, customer service, call centers, finance, human resources, information technology, legal, marketing, procurement, payroll, real estate, and world-class sales support. Suzanne has held key leadership positions in renowned companies, including WPP Plc., United Parcel Service (UPS), Archer Daniels Midland Company, and American Greetings.  In these roles, she led initiatives to create world-class GBS organizations, streamline operations, and drive significant cost savings. Suzanne was inducted into IAOP's Leadership Hall of Fame in 2020.

In the first podcast in the series, IAOP's Chief Advisor of Thought Leadership, Mark Voytek, sits down with Kate Vitasek, an international authority for her award-winning research and Vested® business model for highly collaborative relationships. Vitasek, a Faculty member at the University of Tennessee, has been lauded by World Trade Magazine as one of the “Fabulous 50+1” most influential people impacting global commerce. Her work has led to 7 books, including: Vested: How P&G, McDonald’s and Microsoft Are Redefining Winning in Business Relationships, Getting to We: Negotiating Agreements for Highly Collaborative Relationships, and Contracting in the New Economy. Vitasek has also been featured on CNN International, Bloomberg, NPR, and on Fox Business News. Follow the Vested movement at www.vestedway.com

From OWS23 Speakers: Peter George, Partner, Baker McKenzie Sam Kramer, Partner, Baker McKenzie The pandemic has had significant impact on outsourcing, particularly with respect to service delivery models and the work from home practices. In addition, the increased use of digital technologies, robotic process automation and artificial intelligence to manage pandemic risks is furthering these changes. This session examines how these changes have affected the process of negotiating Master Services Agreements and the terms and conditions that they comprise. Peter and Sam also review how changing delivery models impact security, privacy and liability allocation between buyers and providers and best practices based on what we have learned from the pandemic to future-proof outsourcing contracts.

In this episode of PULSEcast, IAOP's CEO, Debi Hamill, sits down with Susanne Richter-Wills, the VP of Partnerships EMEA at ScaleHub, to discuss crowdsourcing and the advantage of collective intelligence - both artificial and human - in bringing humans into the loop in new ways.

In the next installment of the 'sits down with' series, Debi Hamill, IAOP's CEO, has a chat on digital technologies, transformation and what it all means for the industry's future with Vinny Sanchez, the Global Co-chair of DLA  Piper's Technology Transactions and Strategic Sourcing practice, who is highly recognized as a leading technology and outsourcing lawyer by The Legal 500 US and Chambers. Vinny advises clients in complex technology, strategic sourcing/outsourcing  and commercial transactions, including post-contract matters that arise during these relationships such as implementation/transition challenges, governance, audits and disputes. A  significant part of his practice also includes representing clients in digital transformation programs and supply chain management, including  Nth party risk, business continuity and data and cyber risks. He also advises clients in technology acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures; strategic alliances and collaborations; and the commercialization of technology and data assets.

In the third installment of the 'sits down with' series, Debi Hamill, IAOP's CEO, has a chat with Sandrine Asseraf, Group Managing Director North America and ESG, Webhelp related to her specific focus on Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG). As a global outsourcer operating in over 55 countries, Webhelp is uniquely placed to implement scalable Impact Sourcing practices. Sandrine shares her experiences and addresses how to create an adaptable, impactful, and globally scalable model across multiple delivery locations.

IAOP's CEO, Debi Hamill, sits down with Kevin Parikh, CEO and Chairman of Avasant. Kevin is widely acknowledged as a global thought leader, futurist, and expert on digital business strategies, technological solutions, innovation and business transformation. An avid philanthropist, and Chairman of the Avasant Foundation, Kevin is dedicated to initiatives that support disadvantaged youth and women empowerment. Through the Foundation over 25,000 jobs have been created for youths to participate in the digital economy.  He is a best-selling author of Digital Singularity - A Case for Humanity  In this episode, Kevin shares a teaser into his vision for the future ahead and unveils his predictions for the future of work, and the way we live, engage and interact in what he envisions as the Imagination Age.

Debi Hamill sits down with, Michel Janssen, Chief Research Officer and co-founder of Everest Group’s research practice to take a sneak peek at the results of our survey "It's Not a Talent War, It's a New Reality" that was recently completed in partnership with IAOP.  This research addresses the major concern that all organizations want to get to the bottom of: What can be done to mitigate the impact of the talent shortage?   Michel and his team will present the full findings during their session at OWS22 on January 5. Michel is particularly noted for his ability to put forward clever and challenging ideas based on his fact-based insights from across business and IT processes, sourcing models, and industries. Everest Group welcomed Michel back in 2017, after a successful decade serving as Chief Research Officer at The Hackett Group and Market Track. He is responsible for guiding the practice’s research agenda and architecture and aligning its capabilities with the market’s disruptive changes and next-generation demands. Michel is a current member of the IAOP Strategic Advisory Board (SAB) where he offers insights to help shape the direction of the association.

The need for businesses to be agile, innovative, and data-savvy to compete and thrive emerges loud and clear, but so, too, do concerns around privacy, security, and integration with legacy IT systems. In its sixth year, Baker McKenzie’s Digital Transformation & Cloud Survey captures major trends and attitudes toward the use of data through a global lens of respondents in legal, technology, and procurement roles, across a large cross-section of major industries. Partners Peter George and Flavia Rebello present the key findings.

From OWS21 As organizations face unprecedented economic uncertainty and market pressures, a strong supplier eco-system is viewed as a strategic advantage today. It’s becoming increasingly apparent, especially in the post-pandemic world, that digitally-enabled businesses have a clear edge when it comes to managing and nurturing supplier relationships. Join us for this insightful discussion to understand how the digitization of contract and supplier management processes is redefining the customer-supplier relationship. Mark Voytek, Chief Customer Officer, SirionLabs and Eric Nicolaides, Chairman & CEO, Wildcat Equity Partners will discuss how digital transformation in this key area is unlocking significant enterprise value not just in terms of savings and efficiency but also through improved business outcomes and supply chain resilience.

In this PULSEcast episode, IAOP CEO, Debi Hamill, chats with Alex Rochlitz, Vendor Strategy and Execution Partner at Google, about impact sourcing and how it works in the outsourcing industry. Throughout his career, Alex has helped shape the outsourcing strategy and operations at some of Fortune 500s most notable brands. Now, at Google, he manages outsourcing strategy and execution for several key Google business areas. Ales is also a member of IAOP’s Impact Sourcing Knowledge Collective, and currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Global Impact Sourcing Coalition Steering Committee. Listen in as Alex talks about his intro to Impact Sourcing, how it has become a passion of his, and how he’d like more organizations to initiate Impact Hiring strategies. Alex will share his experiences and talk about organizations he thinks are excelling in Impact Sourcing as part of their overall corporate missions.

REGULATIONS & COMPLIANCE IN THE NEW NORMAL Moderator: John Bree, Chief Evangelist and CRO, Supply Wisdom Panelists: Alpa Inamdar, Head of Third Party Governance Advisory, BNY Mellon Michael Nacarato, COP, IAOP's Buy-Side Ambassador Jennifer Duest, Associate Director, Vice President, Corporate Insurance and Global Third-Party Risk Manager, Wellington Management Company LLP Leaders from the financial and insurance sectors discuss how regulations and compliance have to increasingly be included in ongoing governance. No industry is immune to it. Learn and interact with leaders as they discuss great practices that deliver stability and value to their enterprises as they address and solve for regulatory and compliance challenges.