Posted on: Aug 04, 2026
Adaptive Solutions & Advisory Group was proud to sponsor SSOW Europe 2026, one of the world’s leading events for the Shared Services, GBS and outsourcing community.
Held in Lisbon, the conference brought together more than 1,000 industry leaders, 150 expert speakers, 250 practitioner organisations and 50 solution providers for four days of discussions on the future of enterprise operations. This year’s agenda explored topics including Agentic AI, evolving operating models, service excellence, enterprise value and the next generation of outsourcing, creating an environment where business leaders challenged conventional thinking and explored how GBS organisations must evolve in a rapidly changing business landscape.
Bringing the GBS community together
Throughout the conference, the Adaptive team connected with global business leaders, practitioners and transformation experts to exchange perspectives on the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of GBS.
Together with our partners from Invest in Łódź, we hosted the Wine Talks Corner, a dedicated networking space designed to encourage meaningful conversations in a relaxed atmosphere. Over the course of the event, the booth became a meeting point for discussions on AI transformation, business operations, the evolution of GBS and the growing attractiveness of Łódź as a destination for global business services.
Beyond networking, Adaptive also contributed to the conference programme through expert-led sessions focused on business transformation and AI adoption.
Adaptive experts on stage
One of the highlights of SSOW Europe 2026 was the panel discussion moderated by Krystian Bestry, President & CEO of Adaptive Solutions & Advisory Group, titled “Beyond Cost Control: Roles, Boundaries, and Modern Operating Model for Procurement GBS.”
Together with industry experts from AMMEGA and Webasto Group, Krystian explored how Procurement GBS organisations are moving beyond traditional cost-saving objectives to become strategic business partners. The discussion covered end-to-end Source-to-Pay ownership, governance models, value creation and new approaches to measuring business impact.
Adaptive also hosted a session titled “Embrace Your Journey Towards an AI-Empowered Organisation,” presented by Robert Godziszewski, Executive Business Director at Adaptive Solutions & Advisory Group, together with Paweł Płocki, Managing Director of GBS Europe at TRUMPF.
Their presentation focused on one of today’s biggest challenges for GBS leaders: moving beyond AI experimentation towards sustainable, organisation-wide transformation. They highlighted the importance of AI governance, operating models, leadership, process ownership and capability building in creating truly AI-ready organisations.
Five key takeaways from SSOW Europe 2026
- Start with the problem, not the technology. Successful AI initiatives begin with clearly defined business challenges.
- Lead transformation instead of reacting to it. Future-ready GBS organisations actively shape change.
- Experiment with discipline. AI adoption requires structured pilots, measurable objectives and clear accountability.
- Strengthen the strategic role of GBS. Organisations must demonstrate business value and build stronger executive influence.
- Focus on measurable outcomes. Technology and process improvements should always deliver tangible business impact.
These themes reflected one of the conference’s strongest messages: the future of GBS depends on creating value far beyond operational efficiency.
This year’s agenda was built around four interconnected pillars: Value, Services, Capability and Experience, highlighting the need for organisations to modernise service delivery, develop future-ready capabilities, create measurable business value and place customers, employees and stakeholders at the centre of transformation. Download your copy of the report below to learn more.
Why SSOW Europe matters
For many years, SSOW Europe has been one of the most important meeting places for the global GBS community, and Adaptive has proudly participated across multiple editions.
Each conference offers an opportunity to exchange experiences, discover emerging trends, build new partnerships and discuss the challenges shaping the future of shared services and business transformation. For Adaptive, participation goes beyond sponsoring or exhibiting, it is about contributing to a community that continuously drives innovation and operational excellence across the GBS landscape.
Following another successful edition in Lisbon, we are pleased to continue our partnership with SSOW as a Silver Sponsor of the autumn edition of SSOW Europe, taking place in Amsterdam on 20–22 October 2026. We look forward to continuing conversations around AI, operating models, business transformation and the future of GBS with industry leaders from across Europe and beyond.
Download the SSOW Europe 2026 Post-Event Report
The discussions throughout SSOW Europe 2026 reinforced a clear conclusion: the future of GBS will be shaped not only by technological innovation but by organisations’ ability to combine AI with strong operating models, business value creation and human capabilities.
The newly released SSOW Europe 2026 Post-Event Report captures the conference’s key insights, including:
- the impact of Agentic AI on GBS organisations,
- the evolution of operating models,
- creating enterprise value beyond cost optimisation,
- building future-ready teams and capabilities,
- lessons shared by industry leaders and practitioners.
While attending the conference offered invaluable opportunities for networking and collaboration, the report provides an excellent opportunity to revisit the event’s most important discussions and practical insights.
📖 Download the SSOW Europe 2026 Post-Event Report:
https://www.ssonetwork.com/events-ssoweek/downloads/ssow-europe-2026-post-event-report/
🎥 Watch the SSOW Europe 2026 highlights:
Looking ahead
We would like to thank everyone who visited our booth, joined our sessions and shared their knowledge, ideas and perspectives throughout SSOW Europe 2026.
Once again, the event demonstrated the strength of the global GBS community—one that continually challenges itself to innovate, improve and redefine the future of business operations.
We return from Lisbon inspired by the conversations, connections and ideas exchanged during the conference, and we look forward to continuing those discussions at SSOW Europe Autumn in Amsterdam this October.
All photographs featured in this article were taken by the official SSOW Europe event photographers.
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