Grounded in Service: Meta’s Mauricio Odovaine’s Journey from Call Center to the IAOP Hall of Fame

Mauricio Odovaine’s leadership journey began in a call center, where he learned the values that would define his career: service, generosity, and respect for every person. Today, those same principles continue to guide how he leads, builds partnerships, and delivers impact at Meta and beyond.

That foundation, combined with a rare ability to see the industry from every angle, has earned Odovaine one of the profession’s highest honors: induction into the IAOP Leadership Hall of Fame.

“What’s unique about Mauricio is that he’s seen this industry from every angle – the operator, the buyer, and the provider. I call it a 360-degree view, and that’s not something you see very often,” said Mark Voytek, IAOP Chief Advisor of Thought Leadership, in introducing him at the award ceremony on April 28 at OWS26 in Chicago.

Today, as Head of Strategic Sourcing at Meta, Odovaine oversees the company’s global indirect spend, focusing on high-impact contracting, supplier governance, and sustainable outsourcing, always anchored in the people-first mindset he developed early in his career.

“What stands out isn’t just the role,” Voytek added. “It’s how Mauricio shows up every day. He drives real outcomes, builds real partnerships, and does it with humility and care for people that you don’t always see at his level. What I respect most is that he doesn’t separate business success from real impact.”

Odovaine exemplifies the ideals of the IAOP Hall of Fame, which recognizes senior leaders whose careers reflect sustained excellence in global outsourcing and business services, along with a commitment to advancing opportunity, inclusion, and positive societal impact.

Beyond his corporate mandate, he is a champion for diversity and inclusion, driving social change through impact sourcing. As a trustee of Teen-Turn in Ireland, he works to empower young women from underserved communities through hands-on STEM education, helping shape a more inclusive future for the technology sector.

Using Power for Good

At OWS, Odovaine reflected on the early days of his career, when he took a phone sales role to help fund his university studies. What he expected to be a temporary job became a formative experience. Over 12 years at Sitel, he rose to Regional Director of Operations and Sales in Barcelona, gaining hands-on exposure to sourcing, procurement, and pricing.

In later roles at PayPal and in his decade of leadership in outsourcing and strategic sourcing at Meta, he developed a comprehensive understanding of the buyer’s perspective, completing a 360-degree view of the industry.

Taken together, these experiences shaped a core belief: business relationships carry the power to create meaningful social value.

“You can use that power to build true partnerships, to work together and to create impact in the world,” he said. “When you have a strong company and a strong logo behind it, you can change many things. So to all buyers of services, use that not just to your company’s advantage, but to the advantage of society.”

Reimagining Work in the Era of AI

In his remarks to industry peers at a conference where artificial intelligence dominated discussions, Odovaine called for thoughtful adoption of AI as a productivity enabler, not merely a tool for efficiency.

He referenced comments by his colleague, June Dozier, Director of Technology Sourcing, from her earlier presentation on the Agentic Sourcing Revolution, which presented research showing that AI is no longer optional.

“You cannot ignore it. You have to start at your own pace, whether with partners or on your own. But starting is something that has to happen.”

“Companies that look at the AI future as building efficiencies will not last.  They’re just going to shrink,” he said. “Companies that think about this as a productivity play, as something that will allow you to do more, to build more things, because you are creating the capacity in your teams to focus on the most complex work. Those companies will win in the future.”

He also underscored leaders’ responsibility for managing workforce transformation through skills development and inclusion, noting internal efforts to map capabilities across the organization and redeploy talent based on strengths rather than legacy roles.

“Today, that is making a difference because we understand the skills we can use in the future and the ones we don’t yet have,” he said. “How do we build them today? How do we equip our teams with the tools they need for the future? That will define who succeeds and who doesn’t. As leaders, we owe that to our people.”

Odovaine expressed his sincere gratitude to his teams and colleagues, family and partner for their support.

“I’m deeply grateful to them for allowing me to receive this award on their behalf,” he said. “You have my commitment that I will continue working in this industry to drive change as much as I can and to keep creating social impact for as long as I can.”