Wipro A/NZ country head Christopher Smith joins Civica as APAC leader

Former Wipro A/NZ country head, Christopher Smith, has departed the technology giant to take up the Asia Pacific managing director role for global GovTech specialist Civica.
Smith joined Wipro from Telstra’s consulting division – Telstra Purple – as Australia and New Zealand country head and managing director in late 2022, and now brings his three decades of professional experience to Civica.
Established in 2001 and headquartered in London, Civica is a public sector software provider and professional services firm which was picked up by investment management giant Blackstone last year, at a reported value of $2.5 billion.
Now, the company is looking to expand its presence in the Asia Pacific, tasking Smith with driving business operations, growth, and strategy across the region out of Sydney in alignment with Civica’s global objectives. According to the firm’s website, Civica has bases in Newcastle, Brisbane, Melbourne and Geelong, with further regional outlets in Singapore and India.
“I am delighted to welcome Chris to Civica,” stated Lee Perkins, chief executive officer since 2022. “His proven ability to grow businesses and forge impactful relationships in the APAC market, combined with his deep customer focus and go-to-market expertise, will be invaluable to our leadership team as we continue our journey to become a global GovTech champion.”
Prior to heading up Telstra Purple, Smith served in a number of senior roles across a decade-long stint at the Australian teclo, including as executive director for global and business technology services, having started out in the industry in 1995 following an electrical engineering degree at UNSW. His three-decade career has since included postings across Europe, Asia, and the US.
“I’m excited to join Civica at such a pivotal time in its journey,” Smith said of his latest appointment. “The company’s dedication to improving the lives of citizens by developing critical cloud-based software and services is truly inspiring. I look forward to working with our talented team to drive expansion and success across the APAC region, Civica’s second-largest market.”
Civica
As per the firm, Civica supports every level of government as well as those in the health, social care, and education sectors with solutions catering to every aspect of running an effective organisation, covering ‘people processes, analytics, governance, finance logistics, and digital services’. The firm claims to have over 6,000 clients, with 100 million-plus users globally.
Upon its purchase, Blackstone’s senior managing director Jonathan Murphy said; “Civica has established itself as a leader in the ‘GovTech’ space, with an excellent brand and enviable market position, and we are excited to be partnering with a stellar management team to support its next phase of growth, helping public bodies globally embrace technology and improve their services.”
Meanwhile, Smith’s predecessor at Wipro, Sarah Adam-Gedge, a former executive at Publicis Sapient, Avanade, IBM Consulting and PwC, also served for less than two years as A/NZ managing director, and has since been appointed as chair of Kinetic IT and a director of Cricket Australia, which is aligned with fellow Indian giant HCLTech. Wipro has yet to announce Smith’s replacement.