George Stavrakakis new Rapid Circle A/NZ boss amid leadership overhaul

Microsoft cloud consultancy Rapid Circle has appointed George Stavrakakis as its new A/NZ managing director, while company co-founder Daniel McPherson returns to take up the CTO role.
Stavrakakis brings four decades of professional experience to the firm, with almost half of that spent in senior roles at Microsoft, including as public sector director prior to joining Cevo and later starting his own GenAI advisory.
He replaces Cassandra Ashworth after barely six months in the role, while fellow recent recruit Rodney Hobbs has also departed, with Rapid Circle co-founder Daniel McPherson returning to Australia to take over Hobbs’ CTO duties.
“These are exciting times as we scale across the region with expanded offerings and stronger expertise to help clients innovate and extract maximum value from their Microsoft and AI investments,” stated global CEO Harold Punter. “I’m confident that with George and Daniel’s experience, focus on people, and their approachable leadership style, they will help deliver outstanding outcomes.”
Punter established the Amsterdam-headquartered consultancy alongside McPherson in 2008, before launching an Australian outlet the following year. However, the local practice has seen an especially rapid acceleration over the past few years, driven by a string of acquisitions and the backing of private equity firm Mentha Capital. It now has a regional headcount of around 150 professionals.
George Stavrakakis
Overseeing that growing business will be Stavrakakis, after spending the past eighteen months as a co-founder of AI venture studio InnovateGPT, prior to which he was the Victoria general manager for AWS-focused consultancy Cevo. Before that, he spent two decades with Microsoft, including as a director of its education practice in addition to leading the tech giant’s Australian public sector business.
“Rapid Circle is a team of talented A/NZ pioneers,” Stavrakakis said. “It’s rewarding to work with individuals who are dedicated to helping clients maximise their Microsoft technology investments, particularly with the levels of AI investment and Copilot adoption forecast for 2025. Together, we will continue to set high standards in delivering transformative and impactful solutions.”
Daniel McPherson
Meanwhile, McPherson, who kicked off his career in Adelaide, will reprise his role as chief technology officer for Australia, after spending most of the past two and a half decades abroad, including with Microsoft in Holland and the UK. Among other C-suite leadership roles, he previously served as Rapid Circle’s chief operating officer out of Amsterdam.
Speaking on his return downunder, which follows the recent launch of a local AI centre of excellence, McPherson said; “As a co-founder of Rapid Circle, coming home from the Netherlands, I’m eager to collaborate with our peers at Microsoft to drive new outcomes for clients. My focus will be to help organisations adopt and operationalise AI while mitigating risks and reducing costs.”