Comparesoft Podcast

Jean-Claude Jobard, former Technical Service Director at Tetra Pak, joins the Comparesoft Field Service Management Podcast to share leadership lessons from 24 years of operating large, distributed field service teams at Tetra Pak, with his experience spanning Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Jean-Claude talks about:

• What 24 years at Tetra Pak taught him about leading global field service teams
• Why trust matters more than change in the first 90 days of a leadership role
• Which field service KPIs are overrated, and which ones actually reflect customer value
• Why time to restore often matters more than first-time fix
• How to balance commercial service pressure with long-term customer outcomes
• Preventing engineer burnout in high-pressure, customer-critical environments
• Where technology and automation genuinely help, and where they do not

Debbie Vaughn, Director of Field Services Delivery at Denali Advanced Integration, breaks down why traditional SLA reporting often fails in real-world, multi-site field service delivery. Drawing on enterprise rollout and managed services experience, she explains why communication, transparency, and shared success metrics matter more than speed alone. She covers operational interlocks, OLAs behind SLAs, translating technical risk for executives, preventing engineer burnout, and why green dashboards can still hide customer dissatisfaction.

Project Director and VP of Field Services, Sandy Laird, joins the Comparesoft Field Service Management Podcast to unpack a challenge every fast-moving infrastructure programme faces: quality and reliability versus speed.

Sandy talks about:

• What it really takes to manage 27 projects at once

• Why limited training time is widening the skills gap on-site

• Balancing energisation deadlines with installation quality in renewables

• Data centre demand: building fast, but still lasting 25–30 years

• The KPIs that matter: revisits, install volume per crew, and delivery quality

• Where robots and AI can help O&M (and where caution is needed)

• Why accountability is the biggest issue on large-scale projects

• Practical insight for female field service leaders

Regional Field Service Manager Allan Fairhurst joins the Comparesoft Field Service Management Podcast to share his journey from Army logistics and plant operations to leading large fibre delivery teams across the UK.

Allan talks about:

• What really happens on major infrastructure projects like HS2 and the Commonwealth Games

• Critical KPIs and metrics for empowering high-performance service teams

• Cutting utility strikes with better pre-site surveys and training

• Building a genuine safety culture in the field

• Turning great technicians into confident leaders

In this episode, we sit down with Claire Ford, Head of Field Service Channel, Rest of World (ROW) at ABB E-Mobility, to explore what it takes to lead field operations during one of the fastest-growing periods in EV infrastructure.

Claire shares her journey from the early days at EVBox - when the UK's charging network was still in its infancy - to overseeing service operations across the UK and Germany. She discusses how her experience building teams through COVID, managing exponential growth, and integrating systems like Salesforce and SAP shaped her leadership approach.

From recognising the "unsung heroes" in logistics and back-office functions to the realities of remote team culture and cross-border collaboration, Claire offers a grounded perspective on what keeps large-scale EV field operations running smoothly.

Greg Markham, Estates & Assets Director at Serco Health, explains how the reality of working on the frontline can open your eyes to appreciating the work of FM teams and how predictive technology is being readied to improve patient care in healthcare facilities.

Tim Peacock, the Director of Estates and Facilities at Sherborne Girls School, explains how working with the pathology and history of older buildings is key to managing and maintaining the upkeep of a 40-acre site with both educational buildings and boarding accommodation.

Charlie Wilson, the Head of Property and Estates at Gaucho and M Restaurants, talks us through the post-pandemic challenges in the hospitality industry, the risks associated with FM in Grade I listed buildings, and why you should never ignore your LinkedIn messages.

Karl Haynes, the Site Facilities Manager at GXO Logistics, explores the importance of customer service in supply chain management and setting ESG goals in innovative digital warehouses.

The CEO of PlantQuest, Gerard Carton, discusses the challenges faced in high-compliance environments in the Pharma, Oil & Gas, and Engineering Sectors and his journey from apprentice to CEO.