In an era marked by slower market conditions, it is noteworthy that consultancy firms themselves are actively engaging in senior hiring and promotion initiatives. Despite prevailing economic challenges, consulting businesses are strategically bolstering or re-organising their senior ranks, underscoring their commitment to navigating and thriving within the current landscape.
This trend not only reflects a strategic response to market conditions but also highlights the critical role that experienced talent plays in driving consultancy firms’ success. As these firms fortify their senior leadership teams, they position themselves for enhanced resilience and competitive advantage in a dynamic business environment.
People Moves
Alvarez & Marsal has welcomed Will Rhode as a Managing Director in their Dubai Office, where he will be well positioned to serve clients on ESG, strategy, business and portfolio review, due diligence & value creation support. Will has an impressive career track working at the likes of BCG and EY-Parthenon.
Oliver Wyman has added to its Government and Public Institutions practice in the Middle East with Talal Salman, who joins from Strategy&. Based in Dubai, Talal will advise Oliver Wyman’s public and semi-public clients on topics including economic development, public policy, public finance reform, and giga-project development.
Alvarez & Marsal has recently hired Davide Arpili as a Managing Director in its Private Equity Performance Improvement (PEPI) practice, based in Barcelona. In this role, Davide will support private equity firms and their portfolio companies with cross-border growth, performance improvement and integration programs. Prior to this role, Davide was BCG’s Transform Leader for Italy & Greece.
Sarah O’Toole has joined PwC in the UK from Grant Thornton to lead their Restructuring & Insolvency team in the North West, based in Manchester. She will play a pivotal role in providing clients in the UK with Restructuring and Turnaround Advice, especially in the current economic environment in the region.
Kroll Appoints Dave Burg as Global Head of Cyber Risk. Burg will spearhead Kroll’s Cyber Risk solutions, overseeing and expanding the firm’s Threat Lifecycle Management capabilities, including security advisory, validation and assessments, managed detection and response, threat intelligence, incident response, data analytics and breach notification. Prior to Kroll, Dave worked as EY’s Cyber Leader in the Americas, as well as PwC’s Global Cybersecurity Leader.
Davide Olivieri has joined BearingPoint as a Partner in their Chicago office. Here, he will lead and build the firm’s Data, Analytics, and AI offering, which will seek to help companies deploy tools to harness data and scale technologies, such as generative AI. Olivieri has spent the last 22 years at Accenture working with large clients such as Unilever and PepsiCo and helped launch and build their Global Analytics practice.
Stijn Vanhees joins Simon-Kucher as a Senior Director focused on growth strategy, value creation and value capturing. Stijn has solidified himself in the Value Creation space, gaining expertise in this field from EY-Parthenon, Nova Reperta, and Capgemini Invent.
KPMG has strengthened its team in Saudi Arabia with three new Senior Director appointments. Rabi Youssef (Government Risk and Compliance practice) and Mohammed AlHarthi (Transformation Program Management practice) have both joined the Advisory division, whilst Mohamad Najjar (Indirect Tax practice) has been added to the Tax division.
Alvarez & Marsal has appointed Pablo Alonso as a Managing Director to lead its growing FS M&A team, based in Madrid. Alonso will head a team of dedicated Financial Services M&A specialists covering all major EMEA jurisdictions and Financial Services verticals. Prior to joining A&M, Alonso worked at the Bank of America, where he spent 10 years as a Senior Managing Director in FIG EMEA.
Baringa bolsters their UK Cybersecurity practice with the hire of James Hampshire. He has a track record of successfully delivering cyber risk projects and retained advisory contracts for multinational businesses based in the UK, Central Europe, Asia and Australia, including critical national infrastructure, financial services, manufacturing and private equity firms. Hampshire has worked notably at Hakluyt & Company, PwC, and the National Crime Agency (NCA).
FTI Delta has strengthened the capabilities of its TMT practice with the appointment of Sebastian Blum. He joins the firm as a Senior Managing Director in the Media & Entertainment practice in New York, where he will lead the practice on the East Coast. Prior to joining FTI Delta, Blum was a Partner at OC&C Strategy Consultants, where he led the Media Entertainment and Consumer Internet practice in North America.
Stefan Gross-Selbeck will be leaving BCG as their Global Leader of BCG X Green Tech after nearly a decade at the firm. He will be continuing his career journey, serving on several boards including Hepsiburada, Woltair, and Egret. He will also be setting up his own leadership advisory boutique called SGS Advice.
Adam Rivers joins Alvarez & Marsal’s EMEA Travel, Hospitality & Leisure Practice to lead their new Betting & Gaming sector team. Rivers will be leveraging his significant experience in regulatory, strategic, and compliance advisory, acting for both public and private sector clients. He joins from KPMG, where he led the firm’s Gambling sector consultancy work.
People Promotions
The most interesting leadership developments in the market this month have been from Arthur D. Little, who have announced a series of organisational changes as the company aims to evolve and strengthen its services and leadership team.
Please find below the key leadership developments:
- Growth Practice Leader – Francesco Marsella
- Performance Practice Leader – Arnaud Jouron
- Innovation Practice Leader – Michael Kolk
- Sustainability Practice Leader – Carlo Stella
- Transformation Practice Leader – Francesco Marsella
- Karim Taga will oversee all of the above practices in a newly created global role.
- Gregory Pankert will now lead the Telecom, IT, Media & Electronics practice
- Martin Rauchenwald will now lead the Financial Services practice
- Michael Kruse will take on a newly created transversal global leadership role across all industry practices
- Philippe Mauchard will spearhead the acceleration of Innovation and Artificial Intelligence
- ADL’s France business will now be led by Matteo Ainardi
- ADL’s Germany & Switzerland business will now be led by Michael Zintel
- ADL’s Belgium & Luxembourg business will now be led by Kurt Baes
- Coskun Baban will now also lead the Americas cluster, in addition to his current responsibilities for Eastern Europe
- Bernd Schreiber will lead Nordics, UK & Central Europe.
Bob Willen has been elected as the tenth Managing Partner and Chairman of Kearney. At the end of April 2024, he will succeed Alex Liu, who was first elected in 2018 and is now concluding his second term. Bob joined Kearney in 1995 and was elected Partner in 2003. He has more than 25 years of consulting experience leading strategic and organizational transformations for large commercial and government clients globally. Since 2015, Bob has led Kearney’s Middle East and Africa region, in addition to previous positions leading global Aerospace and Defense, Automotive, Transportation, and Infrastructure practices.
Anne-Marie Rowland has been appointed as Capco’s new CEO. She takes the role from the start of April 2024, having joined the consultancy more than 14 years ago. Rowland has played a pivotal role in the growth of Capco’s business through a series of executive roles, such as Global Head of the firm’s Consulting and Transformation practice. In her new role, Rowland will report to Wipro CEO and Managing Director Thierry Delaporte and will become a member of Wipro’s Executive Committee.
FTI Consulting names Jiva Jagtap as Global Leader of Private Equity. Jagtap has more than 25 years of experience advising private equity groups and their portfolio companies. In his role, he will lead a diversified cross-segment team of professionals across the firm’s global network who support private equity clients throughout the transaction lifecycle, from ideation, validation and assessment through transaction execution, value creation and eventual exit.
Simon-Kucher has announced the promotion of Brad Soper to Managing Partner for the Americas. Previously serving as Global Head of the Industrials sector, Brad has demonstrated exceptional leadership in go-to-market strategy, pricing, sales, and marketing. His extensive experience spans various B2B sectors, including chemicals, building materials, industrial/capital goods, and services.
Roland Berger has promoted Filippo Ghizzoni to Partner in its Middle East’s Sustainability practice. A home-grown consultant of the strategy firm, Filippo Ghizzoni has become an integral part of the Regulated & Infrastructure practice. His work has been pivotal in shaping the sustainability offerings, focusing on critical issues such as waste & water management and climate action initiatives.
Oliver Wyman have appointed Mariya Rosberg as the new Americas Head of Banking & Financial Services. Based in New York City, Ms. Rosberg is a member of Oliver Wyman’s Americas and Global Leadership Teams.
Market Intelligence
Roland Berger have successfully acquired Amane Advisors, a strategic consultancy specializing in water distribution, resource and energy recovery. The purchase will give Roland Berger access to a consulting market worth approximately $1 billion.
Accenture has agreed to acquire Udacity, an EdTech leader with deep expertise in the development and delivery of proprietary technology courses that blend the flexibility of online learning with the benefits of human instruction. The acquisition bolsters capabilities within Accenture LearnVantage, which provides Accenture’s clients with comprehensive technology learning and training services.
In an effort to scale up their artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) offering for clients across EMEA, Bain & Company have acquired PiperLab, a European provider of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions. The deal establishes an additional Advanced Analytics and AI hub under Bain’s global Advanced Analytics Group (AAG).
Martin Wirsing, a former Managing Director at Blue Ridge Partners, has founded Apex Partners, a specialised European management consulting firm supporting private equity firms and their portfolio companies create value through profitable and sustainable growth.
Grant Thornton US has sold a majority stake to private equity group New Mountain Capital. Seth Siegel, CEO of Grant Thornton in the US, has said that the financial support of New Mountain Capital will allow the firm to enhance its value in the marketplace and help accelerate its growth strategy.
A recent study has found that the UK’s consulting market will fail to grow this year for the first time since 2020. According to a new report from Source Global Research, this is the result of macro-economic difficulties and geopolitical uncertainty creating widespread unease amongst clients.
Partners at Big 4 firm KPMG have voted unanimously to extend Jon Holt’s tenure as UK Chief Executive. Holt, who took over as UK chief executive and senior partner in April 2021, will lead the firm until September 2029 after the extension was approved by a vote of the firm’s 467 equity partners.