Operating at Scale: The PE Global Talent Playbook

Amita: Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Decoding Private Equity series by Zinnov. I’m Amita Goel, Managing Partner at Zinnov, and your host for today. Today, I have with me Tom Stephens, Operating Partner at BV Investment Partners, one of North America’s longest-standing sector-focused PE firms, with roughly USD 5.7 Bn invested across tech-enabled business services, software, and IT services.

Tom also serves on the board of several BV portfolio companies. He brings more than two decades of leadership experience in tech-enabled services and software. Before joining BV in 2021, he shaped global corporate strategy at Cognizant, led commercial transformation at Ativo (later acquired by ServiceNow), and co-headed the consulting practice at Bulger Partners, which EY ultimately acquired.

Today, he pairs his operator pedigree with an investor’s lens, helping BV’s companies accelerate go-to-market execution, scale globally, and capture operational upside. Tom holds an AB in Computer Science from Dartmouth and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, giving him a rare blend of technical fluency and board-level strategic vision.

Tom, we are thrilled to have you on the show. Welcome to the Decoding Private Equity series.

Tom: Amita, thank you so much. What a kind introduction. I’m thrilled to be here.

Amita: Wonderful. Let’s dive into our topic of interest.

Tom, you’ve had so much experience working with so many portfolio companies, building offshore and global capability centers and talent capabilities. Offshore and nearshore centers are usually thought of as traditional homes for IT, software, or R&D. From what you’ve seen, where have these hubs added value in the less obvious parts of the business?

Tom: Yeah, it’s a great question. What I’ve seen is our portfolio companies often think of IT, software development, and other technical skill sets when they think of offshore talent. But what we’ve seen is there are a few characteristics of those more traditional processes that, in our minds, make those technical roles a good fit for global talent.

For example, things like sales operations and many parts of the marketing function, we see a lot of value in moving to global centers. Portions of finance and accounting, for sure. But for us, what we’ve seen is for those G&A functions, it’s hard to justify going to a global delivery model just for those.

You mentioned we invest in tech-enabled services, typically where 70% of our cost base is in core client delivery. That’s typically where we look to start. But that spans a pretty broad range of domains and markets, from outsourced accounting to medical billing and coding to alarm monitoring and security services.

Amita: That’s wonderful. The wide variety of examples you’re giving clearly demonstrates that it’s not just IT and R&D, but across different functions one could leverage global talent.

Could you share a real-world example where a global center drove innovation or agility in a function beyond software or engineering?

Tom: Yeah, sure. One of my favorites is a business we have that serves mid-market health insurers in the U.S. Their services focus on back-office processing of claims and member communications. This business began by moving much of their core client delivery, specifically data processing to the Philippines.

We found a great talent pool there and scaled it up. From there, we expanded into customer support and member communications. And since we had the infrastructure, office, and local leadership in place, we also moved some HR, finance and accounting, and even sales operations there.

As we made acquisitions, this became a major source of synergy value. The smaller companies we acquired didn’t have this capability, and they could immediately benefit by shifting some of their processing offshore.

I want to be careful it often sounds like the pitch is just about doing it less expensively. But the real value is we can do it better, faster, and more completely because of access to high-quality, lower-cost talent compared to places like New York or Chicago.

Amita:
That’s wonderful, and it’s a great segue into my next question. Cost is a very clear ROI, but beyond cost, what are some of the intangible or long-term metrics that you look to achieve?

Tom:
In practical terms, we often fall back on cost as the key ROI metric especially when convincing a CFO or board. But our mission is to make businesses fundamentally more valuable and scalable long-term.

Scalability is key. Many of our businesses own very scarce skill sets that clients find difficult to hire for themselves. That proprietary access becomes a differentiator and allows us to scale from USD 50 Mn to USD 300 Mn+ in revenue something that would be hard to do from a single U.S. location.

Speed and agility are also underestimated. If you maintain your delivery bench in the U.S., it’s expensive, so you run at 90% utilization. But with an offshore location, you can afford to keep a healthier bench. That allows you to start client projects immediately, which is a major differentiator.

Another underappreciated benefit is process maturity. Moving delivery to a global center forces companies to codify institutional knowledge and create processes that are scalable versus relying on informal, apprentice style coaching.

Amita:
I love that. Have you seen a global center acquire a strategic position in the company either in how it was perceived by customers, acquirers, or talent?

Tom:
Yes. More and more, access to global talent is seen as a strategic capability. In IT services, it’s already expected. But now, acquirers in other segments see it as a signal of maturity and resilience.

For them, scaling delivery is just as important as scaling sales. Having access to global talent pools makes that proposition more reliable. And it signals process maturity, which is increasingly valued.

Amita:
That’s incredible. Now let’s switch gears. What are the most common misconceptions you’ve seen onshore teams have about their offshore counterparts during a global center journey?

Tom:
It depends on the onshore team’s experience. Those who’ve worked in global models adjust easily. But for first timers, the mechanical process changes like iterating on client output.

You can no longer walk into a conference room and hash it out. A back and forth might take a day per iteration. Talent development also becomes harder there’s less real-time coaching. And communication styles differ significantly across cultures.

What might seem like a “yes” in the U.S. could mean uncertainty elsewhere. Normalizing communication styles is one of the biggest challenges.

Amita:
Absolutely. If you distribute work too much across time zones, iteration becomes difficult. But if you co-locate functions and enable local decision-making, the iteration reduces once the team stabilizes. Then you start leveraging the intelligence of your global team.

Tom:
That’s such an important point. You can over-integrate, making collaboration hard. But if you segment too much, the offshore team can feel isolated not like part of the core team.

Finding the right balance is critical and you often need to experiment to get it right.

Amita:
From a leadership perspective, what qualities do managers need to succeed with global teams?

Tom:
Two things: an open learning mindset, and resilience. Leaders who think they have all the answers struggle. You have to be open to learning and flexible when things don’t go as planned.

There will be speed bumps, and grit matters.

Amita:
Agreed. Could you also walk us through some of the recurring cultural challenges you’ve seen?

Tom:
The biggest is the instinct that the home office has all the answers and the global center just fulfills orders. That mindset is limiting.

Communication styles also create friction. Many cultures outside the U.S. have a more deferential style of disagreement, which Americans might interpret as agreement leading to misalignment and frustration.

Amita:
Absolutely. When everything is virtual, it’s harder to crack the cultural code. But meeting in person even over tea builds bonds faster than any training. Budgeting for travel on both sides is essential.

We also do business culture training for both teams. It really helps.

Tom:
I completely agree. Just showing up matters. It shows commitment. It prevents offshore teams from feeling like isolated islands.

There’s no number of Zoom calls that can replace a cup of coffee. Once you build trust and shared objectives in person, you can sustain the relationship remotely.

Amita:
Yes. Everyone wants to feel like they belong. Leadership presence is powerful.

What’s the single most important advice you’d give someone setting up a global center for the first time?

Tom:
Find a great local leader. That makes all the difference. It’s not easy you need to run an effective recruiting process and show up in person to vet them.

Once hired, integrate that leader into your executive team. Bring them onsite, and have your onshore leaders spend time at the delivery center. It will make the entire model more effective and resilient.

Amita:
That’s amazing, Tom. I personally learned a lot. I work a lot with PE firms and leaders, but I truly learned a lot today—thank you so much.

To summarize:

• A global center gives access to scarce talent and adds speed and agility.

• It improves business continuity and becomes a catalyst for codifying processes.

• Leaders must approach it with an open mind, show up, and create a sense of belonging.

• Hiring the right leader is key especially when starting out.

Tom:
Amita, I really enjoyed it. Thanks for the time.

Amita:
Wonderful. And thank you to our audience for tuning in. Hope you enjoyed the episode as much as I did. I’ll be back with more episodes—stay tuned. Thank you.