Publicis Sapient welcomes Harshu Deshpande as head of product & engineering
Digital transformation consultancy Publicis Sapient has appointed former Slalom and Accenture managing director Harshu Deshpande to a newly-created product and engineering lead role.
Based out of Melbourne, Deshpande crosses to the Publicis Groupe’s business consulting arm from his most recent role as a start-up/scale-up advisor at Google, before which he spent two decades between Slalom, Accenture, and the CSIRO.
Publicis Sapient said the creation of the new senior role reflected the firm’s strong focus on AI-enhanced engineering and transformation, with Deshpande’s appointment following on from that of Gavin Seewooruttun as Australian AI & data lead.
“Harshu’s deep expertise and innovative mindset align perfectly with our commitment to delivering cutting-edge solutions for clients,” said Angela Robinson, appointed country managing director at the end of last year. “At a time when businesses are actively seeking fresh perspectives and transformative partnerships, his appointment underscores our continued ability to attract top talent.”
Like Robinson, Deshpande has spent the majority of his career at Accenture, rising to managing director and responsible for multiple tech portfolios and digital transformation projects during his decade and a half at the firm. Since departing, Deshpande has also served as Australia and Japan lead for Slalom Build, the consultancy’s integrated design, engineering, analytics & automation line.
Now, as a vice president alongside Seewooruttun, Deshpande will be tasked with leading multi-disciplinary teams to deliver large-scale, agile transformation programs while spearheading the development of innovative, scalable technology solutions for local clients. Publicis Sapient said the pair of recruits formed a “powerful combination of engineering, delivery and AI leadership.”
“I’m incredibly excited to join at a pivotal moment,” Deshpande stated. “AI is fundamentally reshaping engineering and the value clients are looking for, and with our proprietary AI platforms and capabilities, we are uniquely positioned to accelerate legacy modernisation, scale AI implementations, and deliver end-to-end business transformation to unlock significant value.”
Further recruits
To further support the growth of its local practice, the firm has also brought in former Ernst & Young professional Poorva Maheshwari as a director of AI & data strategy, with fellow Melbourne-based director recruit Jessica Bell recently joining from Deloitte Digital and former Accenture managing partner Rachael Hughes coming on board as senior client partner in Sydney.
Formed in its present guise in 2019 and with a global headcount now pushing 25,000 professional across two dozen countries, the merged Publicis Sapient has since been stepping up its Australian ambitions, including through the 2023 acquisition of Salesforce consultancy Tquila and earlier purchase of Third Horizon Consulting at the dawn of the global pandemic.
