By Harsha V. Agadi, President and Chief Executive Officer, Conduent
I attended ELEVATE 2026 with a simple goal: listen.
As a CEO, opportunities to spend concentrated time with clients are invaluable. They provide an unfiltered view of what is working, what is changing, and what clients need from their partners to succeed.
What struck me most was not how much our clients talked about artificial intelligence.
It was how often they talked about outcomes.
Across healthcare, government, financial services, transportation, and other industries, I heard a remarkably consistent message. Organizations are navigating growing complexity, rising customer expectations, increasing cost pressures, and rapid technological change. They are looking for partners who can help them move faster, simplify operations, and deliver measurable results.
And they are looking for accountability.
Those conversations reinforced my belief that our industry is entering a new chapter — one where speed, innovation, and human connection will increasingly define success.
Seeing Conduent Through a Client’s Eyes
Before I became Conduent’s CEO, I was a client.
That perspective matters.
I understand what it means to rely on a partner to support critical operations, manage customer interactions, process transactions, protect data, and deliver experiences that reflect directly on your brand.
Clients do not judge service providers by presentations, promises, or organizational charts.
They judge them by outcomes.
Can you help solve problems?
Can you help simplify complexity?
Can you help me achieve results faster?
Those are the questions clients are asking today.
The scale of what Conduent does positions us uniquely to answer them. We work with 40% of the Fortune 100. We support nine out of 10 U.S. health plans. We help administer government healthcare programs serving more than 111 million recipients. Seven out of 10 banks rely on us. Every day, we help manage billions of interactions on behalf of our clients.
But scale is not the story.
What matters is how we use that scale to create greater value.
That is where I believe the opportunity lies—not only for Conduent, but for the entire business process services industry.
Speed Is Becoming a Competitive Advantage
If there was one theme that surfaced more than any other at ELEVATE, it was speed.
Healthcare leaders talked about the need to adapt more quickly to changing member expectations.
Government leaders emphasized the importance of delivering services more efficiently while managing increasing complexity.
Financial services executives discussed the need to move faster while maintaining security, compliance, and trust.
The specifics differed, but the underlying challenge was the same.
Organizations can no longer afford long implementation cycles, slow decision-making, or unnecessary complexity.
Speed is becoming a competitive advantage.
That does not mean moving recklessly. It means removing friction. It means accelerating decisions, shortening implementation timelines, and responding quickly when clients need support.
Technology is making that possible.
AI, automation, analytics, and digital platforms are helping organizations accomplish in months what once took much longer. But technology alone is not enough.
Execution matters.
One of the changes underway at Conduent is a renewed focus on speed and execution. We are simplifying how we operate, accelerating decision-making, reducing implementation timelines, and creating greater accountability around outcomes.
Because activity without results is just motion.
What clients expect—and what they deserve—is performance they can see and measure.
AI Is Reshaping Business. Human Connection Remains the Differentiator.
Not surprisingly, AI was a frequent topic of discussion throughout ELEVATE.
Clients are eager to understand how AI can improve experiences, increase efficiency, strengthen decision-making, and unlock new value from their operations.
We are seeing those opportunities firsthand.
Across Conduent, AI is helping improve customer interactions, strengthen fraud detection, streamline workflows, support benefits administration, and reduce manual effort across a variety of processes.
The technology is advancing rapidly.
Yet one message came through clearly from client conversations.
As AI becomes more powerful, human connection becomes more important.
When someone is resolving a healthcare issue, seeking government assistance, managing a financial concern, or navigating a major life event, empathy matters. Judgment matters. Accountability matters.
Technology should enhance those moments—not replace them.
The future is not a choice between automation and people.
It is the thoughtful integration of both.
Technology at scale. Human judgment where it matters.
That combination will define the next generation of customer and citizen experiences.
Accountability Builds Trust
Another message I heard consistently was the importance of accountability.
Clients want transparency.
They want responsiveness.
And they want partners who take ownership.
Throughout my career, I have viewed complaints differently than most people.
A complaint is not an inconvenience.
It is a diagnosis.
It tells you where something is broken, where expectations are not being met, and where improvement is required.
The organizations that succeed are not the ones that spend the most time explaining problems.
They are the ones that solve them.
That philosophy is shaping how we are evolving at Conduent.
We are creating greater clarity around ownership, simplifying decision-making, and building a culture where accountability is expected at every level of the organization.
Clients should know where we stand.
They should know who owns the issue.
And they should know we are committed to delivering results.
Trust is earned through execution.
The New Conduent
The conversations at ELEVATE reinforced something else.
Many clients know Conduent for a specific capability, but not necessarily for the full breadth of what we can do.
That represents a tremendous opportunity.
Our future is not simply about doing more transactions.
It is about helping clients solve more problems.
We are evolving from a transactional business process outsourcing model toward a technology-enabled business process services company—one focused on outcomes, innovation, and partnership.
That means combining deep operational expertise with technology, data, AI, and a relentless focus on client success.
It means moving faster.
It means being more accountable.
It means continuously innovating.
Most importantly, it means helping clients achieve better outcomes for the people they serve.
What Comes Next
ELEVATE was not simply a client conference.
It was an opportunity to listen.
What I heard was clear.
Clients are not asking whether AI is coming. They know it is.
What they are asking is who can help them move faster, simplify complexity, improve experiences, and remain accountable as change accelerates.
That is the challenge in front of our industry.
It is also the opportunity in front of Conduent.
Technology will continue to evolve. Customer expectations will continue to rise. New challenges will emerge.
But the fundamentals remain unchanged.
Clients want results.
They want trust.
They want partners who show up when it matters.
The future of business process services will not be defined by who automates the most.
It will be defined by who best combines technology, accountability, and human judgment to help clients achieve better outcomes.
That is the company we are building at Conduent.
And we are just getting started.