Wotton Kearney continues advisory push with IT veteran Iain McGuire

Insurance and risk legal firm Wotton Kearney has recruited IT consulting veteran Iain McGuire as its first chief technology & AI officer, further advancing its recently-launched advisory practice.

Joining in Sydney, McGuire brings more than two decades of senior leadership experience from PwC, Deloitte, DWS and most recently Cognizant, where for the past eighteen months he’s served as consulting managing partner for the Asia Pacific & Japan.

McGuire’s appointment as Wotton Kearney’s inaugural technology & AI chief follows shorty after the traditional law firm’s launch of an advisory practice, which is headed by KPMG recruit Matt O’Keefe and will initially focus on cyber, data and technology.

O’Keefe, most recently KPMG’s cyber leader for the Asia Pacific region during his three-decade career at the Big Four firm, is joined in Melbourne by former Deloitte director Josh Simonis in driving the practice, which aims to support organisations in preparing for and responding to the rising number and gravity of risks across cybersecurity, privacy, operations and regulation.

Upon its launch, co-founder and chief David Kearney said the practice was established due to client demand and the growing convergence between legal services and advisory; “Wotton Kearney is evolving. For more than two decades, we’ve worked hard to build Asia-Pacific’s leading insurance and risk legal business, but we’ve never stopped looking for new ways to assist our clients.”

Iain McGuire

Now, Wotton Kearney has further added to tech advisory expertise beyond traditional legal services through the partnership addition of McGuire, who in his new C-suite role will lead the firm’s technology and transformation teams, be tasked with further embedding AI across the business as part of its own ongoing digital transformation, and also work with clients on the risk advisory side.

Prior to his most recent role at Cognizant, McGuire spent four and half years as a partner at Deloitte, including as risk advisory chief strategy & transformation officer and head of government & public sector for the Asia Pacific, before which he was a partner for over a decade at PwC and earlier served as a regional general manager for DWS, which has since been bought by HLCTech.

“I’m genuinely excited to play a key role in championing cutting-edge solutions to drive our digital transformation, and shaping the future of Wotton Kearney’s new advisory practice,” McGuire said of his latest senior appointment. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to help redefine how we support our people and clients in today’s rapidly evolving technology landscape.”

Advisory expansion

Established in 2002 and since grown to a partnership count beyond 100 and over 750 legal professionals spread across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and most recently Thailand, McGuire further noted that Wotton Kearney was a pivotal point in its evolution. Unlikely a coincidence, the firm also last year appointed Tony O’Malley as its new chair.

A former managing partner of King & Wood Mallesons, O’Malley is a veteran of the recent territory battle between the big players in the legal and consulting sectors, recruited to PwC and appointed in 2019 as global leader of its legal services division – with numerous law firms launching advisory wings in response and the Big Four having since largely retreated.

“In his role as chair, Tony will draw on his significant experience across law, business and consulting to help guide our next chapter and align with our values and trailblazing ambitions,” Kearney said at the time of O’Malley’s appointment, with the latter adding that he was energised by the firm’s growth agenda and looked forward to helping guide its long-term strategy.