John Walls

President NeuroBuilt, LLC

From Throwing Bricks to Transforming Field Service

In the spring of 1982, I was a 21-year-old working at a brickyard, throwing bricks for eight hours a day; it was a dirty, mindless job. One day, while waiting in line at a grocery store, I noticed someone about my age wearing a tie and white shirt, repairing an electronic cash register. That moment changed my life. When I asked him how to get a job like his, he said, “Get an electronics degree.” I was determined to trade bricks for a tie, and that’s exactly what I did.

Building a Strong Sales-Service Partnership

By 1984, I had earned my degree and landed my first job repairing biomedical equipment at Sunbury (PA) Community Hospital, which opened the door for me to join Abbott Laboratories, a Fortune 100 company. Abbott’s Hospital Products Division was pioneering a field service strategy to complement its sales force, a bold move to strengthen customer relationships through technical support. As one of the first service hires, I was assigned to New England, only to find the Boston sales team un-welcoming. Their last experience with a service rep. - highly technical but lacking people skills - had eroded customer confidence and left the team skeptical. I was different. While I wasn’t the most technically skilled, I excelled in communication and was able to articulate the value of service. I wore a suit and tie, built trust, and demonstrated how service could enhance sales. I was soon invited to every sales demo, and field service became a powerful differentiator. When I transferred to Abbott’s Diagnostics Division in 1990, the company had secured its position as the infusion pump market leader in New England, a milestone made possible by the collaborative sales-service strategy I helped build.

Transforming Service into a Revenue Generator

I’ve always believed that service should do more than fix problems - it should create value. In the 1990s, while working at Abbott Diagnostics, I saw an opportunity to shift how service was perceived and performed. At a time when service was viewed purely as a cost center, I developed a strategy to turn it into a revenue engine. Service engineers were giving away consumables to maintain goodwill. I introduced a process to sell those consumables instead, creating a new value stream that added $3.2 million in annual revenue. More than just a financial win, it was a shift in mindset. I trained engineers across the country to communicate value, engage customers, and think entrepreneurially…despite initial reluctance from many who feared being seen as sales reps. The key was to help them do so without losing their technical identity or credibility. The program earned me Abbott’s President’s Award and was eventually adopted by the sales division. It demonstrated what’s possible when you combine practical insight, process discipline, and a willingness to challenge old assumptions. That belief continues to shape the work I do today.

Differentiating Service: Transforming Ordinary Service Reps into Polished Service Professionals

In 2004, I founded Calyx Metrology, a healthcare technology company specializing in on-site biomedical test equipment calibration. In the price-sensitive healthcare market, calibration was seen as a commodity service—where all providers looked alike…from a distance. I knew we needed to differentiate our service offering. Inspired by Richard Feynman’s advice, “If you want to master something, teach it,” I developed the Tech to Pro initiative (NTPi)—a training philosophy integrating neuroscience, philosophy, and practical habits into service delivery. This innovative approach not only differentiated Calyx from the competition but also drove its success and positioned the company for a successful sale in 2024, underscoring the power of combining technical expertise with human-centered leadership. Now, I help other organizations do the same…transform technical service into a strategic advantage.

Day 1: The AI-Powered Service Revolution

12:10 PM Track C: Workshop 6: The Neuroscience Behind Psychological Safety at Work

In high-performing organizations, psychological safety is a necessity. But it is also deeply misunderstood. This

session cuts through the confusion to clarify what psychological safety is (and what it’s not), then bridges it with the SCARF® model from social neuroscience to provide a practical, brain-based leadership philosophy and approach. Participants will learn how to reduce threat responses, improve team performance and shape interactions that support the brain’s core social needs: Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness. By linking psychological safety to these five drivers, leaders will have practical tools that foster resilience, honest dialogue, and motivation—especially during times of change or conflict.

Attendees will gain:

A clear understanding of psychological safety and how to build it
A practical overview of the SCARF® model to improve team dynamics
Strategies to reduce fear, build trust, and strengthen resilience
Tools to accelerate leadership growth and lead with greater impact

Day 2: Exploring Service Business Model & Value Creation: Mastering Service Contract Execution

2:10 PM Track B: Panel: Data-Driven Decision Making: Optimizing Legacy Data for Modern Field Service Analytics

Join panelists, as they demonstrate how to transform legacy data into actionable insights for modern field service analytics. This session will explore strategies to migrate, cleanse, and harmonize decades-old operational data with AI-driven tools, enabling predictive maintenance, optimized resource allocation, and cost-effective service models. Attendees will learn how to bridge historical datasets with real-time IoT platforms to forecast equipment failures, reduce downtime, and elevate customer satisfaction through data-driven decision-making.

Key Takeaways:

Modernize legacy data through migration and cleansing to enable predictive analytics and AI integration.
Leverage historical insights to forecast equipment failures and optimize technician dispatch processes.
Transform field service operations by aligning legacy data with real-time IoT platforms for proactive decision-making.

Day 3: Optimizing 4 Operations: Navigating Complexities in Parts, Pricing, and Warranty

9:10 AM Fireside Chat: Maximizing Aftermarket Efficiencies with AI; Driving Productivity & Profit

This session explores how artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping the aftermarket industry, with a focus on driving productivity and profitability across key business functions. The discussion will highlight real-world applications of AI-including predictive analytics for maintenance, AI-driven inventory management, automated customer service, and supply chain optimization-demonstrating how these technologies are transforming traditional aftermarket models into agile, data-driven operations. Panelists will share their hands-on experience implementing AI across global service networks, offering practical insights on overcoming integration challenges, maximizing ROI, and leveraging advanced analytics for continuous improvement. Attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of how AI can be used not just for automation, but for smarter decision-making, improved demand forecasting, and delivering a best-in-class customer experience. The conversation will also address the future of AI in aftermarket services, including emerging trends and strategies for staying ahead in a rapidly evolving marketplace.

Key Takeaways:

Implement AI-driven predictive analytics to anticipate equipment failures, optimize maintenance schedules, and reduce unplanned downtime-boosting both efficiency and customer satisfaction
Leverage AI-powered inventory management to enhance demand forecasting, minimize stockouts and excess inventory, and ensure the right parts are available at the right time-driving cost savings and improved service levels
Automate customer service and data processes with AI tools such as chatbots, smart manuals, and natural language search, enabling faster response times, higher data accuracy, and a more seamless customer experience

1:10 PM Track A: Case Study/Presentation: Maximizing Profitability in Service and Spare Parts: A Case Study in Transforming Service into a Revenue Generator

Service is often seen as a cost center—but what if it could become a strategic source of revenue? In this session, we’ll explore how a shift in mindset and a few key process changes turned a traditional service model into a multi-million-dollar value stream.

Drawing from a real-world case at Abbott Diagnostics, this presentation outlines how field engineers moved from giving away consumables to confidently selling them—generating $3.2 million in new annual revenue. Attendees will learn how to:

Reframe service as a value-creating function
Train technical staff to engage in revenue-generating conversations without compromising credibility
Build alignment between service, sales, and customer experience

Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining John.

Download The Latest Agenda