From Cost Center to Value Engine: Steve Rudderham, Ecolab

Many GBS leaders still lead with "we save money," but is that still the right pitch? In this episode, Steve Rudderham, SVP GBS at Ecolab, joins us to talk about the shift from cost center to value engine. Drawing on his experience leading GBS organizations at Carrier, AkzoNobel, Kellogg's, and now Ecolab, Steve explains why "we save money" is the flip-phone version of the conversation, where agentic AI is already moving the needle on revenue and customer outcomes, and his honest take on the "our data isn't ready" excuse. In this episode, we cover: What separates a world-class GBS from a transactional service center — and how that shift shows up internally at Ecolab Why automation doesn't have to mean headcount reduction, and what the role of people looks like in an Agentic GBS Accountability in an agentic world: who owns the outcome when AI agents act autonomously, and when "good enough" data is good enough to start