2025 Global Business Services Agenda

In this episode of the “Gen AI Breakthrough” podcast, Siobhan Riggott, Vin Kumar and Martijn Geerling discuss the findings of The Hackett Group’s 2025 GBS Key Issues Study. Key topics include the top challenges facing global business services (GBS) leaders – cybersecurity threats, labor costs and employee turnover—along with strategies for cost leadership, value creation, service expansion, and the growing adoption of generative artificial intelligence and digital transformation to drive future resilience.

Welcome to The Hackett Group’s “Gen AI Breakthrough” podcast,where top experts give actionable artificial intelligence (AI) insights, expert advice and strategies to achieve breakthrough business performance. In this episode, host Siobhan Riggott is joined by Martijn Geerling, global leader of the Global Business Services Advisory practice, and Vin Kumar, Digital Enablement and GBS Advisory lead in North America. They discuss findings from Hackett’s annual 2025 Global Business Services Agenda study, which identifies major business challenges and transformation priorities for 2025.

To begin, Martijn highlights three major concerns for global business services (GBS) leaders entering 2025 – cybersecurity threats, employee turnover and high labor costs. The conversation shifts to how global political and economic changes affect GBS organizations. Trade policy shifts, increased regulatory compliance and geopolitical uncertainties are forcing GBS leaders to conduct extensive scenario planning. Even without an increase in transaction volume, regulatory changes are increasing workload, requiring GBS teams to adapt their operating strategies. Leaders are analyzing how trade policies impact service delivery and planning for potential shifts in operational locations.

GBS leaders have identified three core strategic priorities for the next 12-18 months. The first is cost leadership because organizations are under pressure to optimize costs and improve operational efficiency. The second is enhancing business agility and resilience through transformation initiatives to foster value creation. Third, service expansion includes increasing both the depth and breadth of services offered by GBS, moving from traditional back-office functions to mid-office roles in areas such as marketing, legal, and real estate. Workload in GBS is expected to rise by 11%, while operational budgets will increase by only 7%, creating a gap that organizations must address through efficiency improvements. Technology investments remain a priority, with 10% of budgets consistently allocated to digital advancements.

GBS organizations are looking to expand services beyond traditional functions. Key areas of focus include master data management and environmental, social, and governance reporting. Similarly, GBS organizations have been early adopters of generative AI (Gen AI), leveraging it to drive efficiency and innovation over the course of the last three years. As GBS organizations move beyond the experimental phase of Gen AI, their focus has shifted to widespread adoption. Leaders are now actively seeking ways to integrate Gen AI into core enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, while acknowledging that standard ERP solutions offer only general-purpose functionalities. To maximize value, they are also leveraging specialized process-specific solutions provided by vendors and developing their own Gen AI applications.

One key area where GBS organizations are deploying Gen AI is as a digital assistant to support unstructured work. Instead of replacing full-time employees, Gen AI is being used to enhance productivity by assisting in routine tasks. Moving forward, the focus is on hyper-automation, making processes more autonomous to drive efficiency. Customer support and triage automation are the key areas that could benefit from this automation.

Despite its potential, Gen AI adoption presents several challenges for GBS organizations. The Hackett Group’s study identified key barriers, including complex process landscapes, poor data quality, talent shortages, data privacy concerns and unrealistic benefit expectations. To address these challenges, GBS leaders must decide whether they want to position themselves as pioneers or laggards in AI adoption. The key differentiator will be the ability to scale Gen AI beyond proof-of-concept (POC) projects. 2024 was the year of experimentation, but in 2025, GBS organizations need to scale AI solutions that have proven successful in POC trials. Companies that successfully scale Gen AI follow a structured approach. They prioritize portfolio investment strategies and general-purpose AI solutions.

The transition from POC to large-scale implementation will be a defining moment for GBS organizations in 2025. In 2024, many companies experimented with Gen AI, running small-scale pilots to test feasibility. However, to drive real business value, organizations must now shift to scaling their AI investments strategically. Successful AI adopters follow two key strategies – portfolio investment approach and strategic decision-making. Rather than using AI-driven efficiency gains solely for cost-cutting, GBS organizations should reinvest savings into further innovation and transformation. Historically, GBS budgets have been squeezed, but there is now an increased focus on AI and technology investment. To maintain long-term success, leaders must use AI-enabled productivity gains to propel their organizations forward rather than simply doing more with fewer resources.

Time stamps:

0:12 – Welcome to this episode hosted by Siobhan Riggott.

1:31 – Top concerns for GBS leaders.

10:24 – Strategic priorities for 2025.

11:35 – Expanding GBS service offerings.

16:50 – Adoption of Gen AI in GBS.

18:49 – Challenges in adopting Gen AI.

20:57 – Scaling Gen AI – from POC to execution.

27:17 – Closing thoughts.